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csmath

Hi there, I was just wondering if anyone has come across a calculator or formula to figure out the changes to dependent care FSA limits (now up to $10,500, previously $5k) versus the changes in the child and dependent care tax credit. I know I can't double dip, so I am trying to figure out the best...

csmath

You absolutely want to max the DCFSA. Your income level is deep into the phaseout of the DC Tax Credit and you will save much more per dollar spent by avoiding the taxes via FSA. Edit to add: If your wife's plan allows for the increased limit, and you are sure your DC expenses are high enough, elect...

csmath

One of the things that has allowed Elon's companies to progress so much is the enormous influx of funding coupled with the attitude and innovative relationships they have with their suppliers. I don't want to get into the details but his companies know that many of their suppliers are the best in t...

csmath

One of the things that has allowed Elon's companies to progress so much is the enormous influx of funding coupled with the attitude and innovative relationships they have with their suppliers. I don't want to get into the details but his companies know that many of their suppliers are the best in t...

csmath

Yes budgets work. They don't actually DO it for you, but for many, simply making a budget and tracking expenses can be eye opening. This might not apply to most Bogleheads, but I'd imagine many people really have no idea where all their money goes. They think they do, but if they wrote everything do...

csmath

One of the things that has allowed Elon's companies to progress so much is the enormous influx of funding coupled with the attitude and innovative relationships they have with their suppliers. I don't want to get into the details but his companies know that many of their suppliers are the best in th...

csmath

FSA is usually slightly better but has the risk of not being used. Since the credit is almost as good, I would do the FSA only for funds you absolutely 100% know are going to be spent. This is usually correct but under the new changes I would argue it is completely the opposite now. The DC Tax Cred...

csmath

the market is crazy high To be direct... you don't know what you think you know. Do you really think that your statement is true? Because that means you think that out of all the traders who do price discovery, that they are wrong and you are right. Does it just feel high to you? It feels high to m...

csmath

I can imagine the feeling of buying an absurdly overpriced share / option that you think is yours only to find out you bought someone else's. Is there really a way to locate specific shares and/or options like described above?

csmath

I'm getting 3% on savings account at HM Bradley. It's on up to $100k. Some hoops to go through to get the rate, but it's the best I've seen on that high a balance. HM Bradley seems like a reasonable option if your not actually withdrawing from the account but I believe OP uses this account for shor...

csmath

I have another question for you to peer-review. Does the formula change if you have only one child? Yes. If you have 1 child and your total expenses are over the $8,000 then it may be better to take the smaller percentage of a larger amount (higher limit). Other facts: expenses of $11,773 minimum F...

csmath

Edit: Scratch this... I assume this is the reason for the mea culpa on your other posts. Leaving the picture because I spent far too long on it. Yes, it was embarrassing. I was forgetting to tax the additional "AGI" as you put it. Once that was fixed the formula became trivial. Here is th...

csmath

Yes, but what is the deduction removing from the AGI? The $6,000 TIRA contribution or the $6,000 retirement income? The answer is that it is removing the contribution. The retirement income created in the conversion is still included in the AGI. Beautiful! You are awesome!! Nope. This is where the ...

csmath

My 1099-R from Vanguard clearly states $6000 is taxable distributions, but not taxed at federal level - 4b as it was already taxed to start with while contributing to IRA ( I could say it is not deductible contribution). I could file IL return by deducting $6000 with 1099R. I dont know whether I'll...

csmath

As per IL, IRA distribution is not taxable if it is included in the AGI - line 11 in 2020., 8b in 2019 form. But schedule 1 deduction kicks in BEFORE calculating AGI. Yes, but what is the deduction removing from the AGI? The $6,000 TIRA contribution or the $6,000 retirement income ? The answer is t...

csmath

I understand what you are saying about federal AGI. I could take a deduction now and then in retirement age take the distribution. I would still not pay IL income tax on that money. I could really make the contribution in December and convert the following January and they wouldn't then be on the s...

csmath

Line 4b is what matters for IL, not 4a. Lets say someone do backdoor Roth, ( contributes $6000 to tIRA and then converts the entire amount, $6000 to Roth IRA ), taxable amount is 0. What do you mean the taxable amount is 0? It is definitely taxed Federally and can be taxed in IL also if any portion ...

csmath

I have gone through this thread. I also looked at the other thread. https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=86262&hilit=ILLINOIS&start=100 I can see some ambiguity about deducting IRA distribution in IL return. For someone who is above the AGI limit, this loophole doesn't ...

csmath

This question I suppose concerns a corollary of dollar cost averaging. I've seen the posts that lump sum investing seems to perform better than dollar cost averaging. But how about when it comes time to make withdrawals during retirement? Is it better to take a lump sum once per year or take withdr...

csmath

I am filing my taxes and wanted to know where I should be declaring the backdoor Roth contribution. I used a rollover account to make a contribution and then moved it to Roth IRA for 2020. While filing my taxes I choose traditional contribution 6000,converted to Roth IRA and then followed the promp...

csmath

I'm trying to figure out what will make the most sense for me, if someone could help. It's difficult to know my AGI for 2021 because my wife is currently furloughed. Last year our AGI came in at 148K with my wife furloughed from March through December, collecting unemployment. My wife is still coll...

csmath

I'm trying to figure out what will make the most sense for me, if someone could help. It's difficult to know my AGI for 2021 because my wife is currently furloughed. Last year our AGI came in at 148K with my wife furloughed from March through December, collecting unemployment. My wife is still coll...

csmath

Just found this thread...read all the posts and am still confused. Here's my situation: MFJ and AGI is around $250k. 24% Fed/5.75% State. 3 kids. By the calc I quickly did, I thought we might be better off sticking with the current $5k DCFSA contribution in 2021. Then I read a previous post of some...

csmath

Jack FFR1846 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 6:41 pm The ultimate goal is to have on the order of 25 times your annual spending in liquid assets at retirement. Average would not help unless your spending is indeed average.

What does a/c mean?

25 times annual spending needs after considering what a discounted pension/SS will cover right?

csmath

JBTX wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 6:30 pm - wife may be able to defer year end 2020 bonus to 2021 (small company)

A few times you mention "end of 2020" or "push into 2021". I believe you mean to add 1 year to those statements correct?

csmath

[OT comment removed by admin LadyGeek]

On topic: Was there any news for the quick change in direction?

csmath

Hoping for a bit of a fact check here, just want to make sure I'm doing this correctly. AGI 175k, 24% Fed + 6.8% MN. 2 kids, childcare costs will be about 30k. It's a no brainer for me to increase to 10,500 correct? If my employer doesn't allow it, what do I do? My opinion, you are correct. Assumin...

csmath

I thought I was calculating things correctly, but the further I've read into this thread the more lost I got. Would any tax experts care to breakdown my situation with respect to tax savings by scenario (change nothing, increase to new max, stop future FSA contributions)? Is there a simple formula ...

csmath

Here is an example to explain why the break-point is the %'s being equal. For Scenario 1: Gross pay before any taxes is $15,000 Overall tax burden is 30% DC Tax Credit recovery rate is 30% Scenario 1A - No DCFSA Let's say you work and earn exactly $15,000 gross, meaning before any taxes are withheld...

csmath

So, when I posted the spreadsheet I mentioned that I did not have time to test it. I started typing up a line by line explanation of an example related to my above post and I just realized that while the DCFSA shelters the DC expenses taxes completely, I was forgetting to tax the "left overs&qu...

csmath

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csmath

I'd like to point out that you may be grossly underestimating annual expenses and therefore are nowhere near the stated 65x expenses. I still think a $3,000,000 portfolio is enough, but you seem to be saying that your job consumed your time in addition to being stressful. Combine tons of free time w...

csmath

As kenyan was getting at... I don't believe that 25x, 30x, etc of your income . It is usually a multiple of your projected expenses after Social Security or Pension benefits are taken into consideration. Many people, myself included, discount the future benefits of SS or Pensions due to uncertainty ...

csmath

Just found this thread...read all the posts and am still confused. Here's my situation: MFJ and AGI is around $250k. 24% Fed/5.75% State. 3 kids. By the calc I quickly did, I thought we might be better off sticking with the current $5k DCFSA contribution in 2021. Then I read a previous post of some...

csmath

EDIT: OK so I found a fatal flaw and I'm really sorry if it caused any issues for you. The quick explanation is that I was calculating how much tax was avoided when running money through the DCFSA. Of course this leaves you with extra money to be paid to you in a paycheck... and... I was never taxi...

csmath

Any money contributed to a DCFSA is subtracted from the $16000. Opps! I forgot that DCFSA contributions lower the max limit on the DC tax credit. My calculations on the spreadsheet I linked earlier are definitely wrong. Going to remove it quickly, sorry! For some reason I was thinking you could use...

csmath

TurtleTurtle14 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 1:13 pm Anyone have any ideas of things you could point to in order to justify the mid-year election change?

My employer is allowing one FSA election change based on the tax law change itself. Maybe just try that first?

csmath

Have you considered not replacing and just using a more efficient heat source, like a microwave. Funny thing about the microwave. After successfully cooking asparagus on the grill, oven and pan, this is our favorite: https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/good-eats/videos/age-of-asparagus Quick microwav...

csmath

A lot of people are posting photo's of them to their social media accounts.

Don't be one of those people.

csmath

If you use TurboTax: https://thefinancebuff.com/how-to-repor ... botax.html

csmath

Really glad I saw this thread today. I was about to change my FSA contributions this week from $0 to ~$4,000 to pay for summer camp this year now that we know they'll be open, plus a few months of before/after care in the fall. Now I'm pretty sure I'd come out ahead by keeping it at zero and just c...

csmath

Edit: Deleting prior post.

Removed the spreadsheet. Found fatal flaw.

csmath

This thread reminds me of: Weird Al" Yankovic - Foil (Official Video) Everyone else is outdated, too rigid, can't see the truth, closed minded, jaded by experience and wisdom :shock: I acknowledge that true belief in this strategy can exist, but people believe all sorts of things that are count...

csmath

Coming back to say thanks for this thread. I've been super busy lately and putting off looking into the new credit structure but after seeing the size of the changes I immediately made a change to our DCFSA election as it was a no brainer for our situation.

csmath

We have our grill connected to a natural gas line. If that can work for you, it is a great convenience. No tanks and never a chance of running out. +1 to this. This home had a permanent grill installed into the deck and it's piped directly to the homes natural gas line. I had no idea how amazing th...

csmath

johnsmithsf wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 10:50 am Agreed. That was unexpected from him.
I guess people change when they get money.

Ever hear of a "long con"?

csmath

"Many millionaires will be getting stimulus payments" Not on my street. :) Somehow it was easier for us to make taxable income disappear before I retired in 2012. I suppose it will only get worse in a couple of years when I have to start taking all of my RMDs and she starts SSA retirement...

csmath

I've been wondering this same thing. I'm just under the $125k with 5 kids and will pay close to $25,000 in daycare expenses this year. My calculation thoughts were(no idea if correct) Option 1 - Change Nothing FSA - $5,000 (22% bracket + FICA) = ~30% of 5,000 = $1,500 Dependent Care Credit = 16,000...

csmath

At this point I would genuinely be interested in a movie that gets into the moves and stories behind this whole GME event. I think it is clear what is happening on the Retail side but it would be fascinating to see the HF side. I know we will never know the whole story and the truth, but I have to b...

csmath

Volatility anyone?

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