Displaying 11 - 20 of 132 Forum PostsPrev 1 2 3 4 5 Next
  • Mar 30, 2021 02:38 PM
    Last: 3yr
    3k
    It certainly would make the idea of paying taxes more palatable to me. Too many times I don't really benefit from govt spending so would be nice if I directly did, and in turn, we set a floor of income that would go a long way in eliminating poverty and homelessness.
  • Mar 29, 2021 05:51 PM
    Last: 3yr
    2.6k
    Old Sport Wrote:

    Is there a reason to follow it weekly or is this weekly thing just a bonus for people to use at their leisure?

    I would say every single week is overkill. But multiple times in a year is helpful, especially being free. For those in the market to purchase a house for example, your credit report is paramount and if you are in the process of having to wait for things to clean up on your report before you qualify for XYZ rate, or a loan at all, then one free report isn't exactly helpful. So not for everybody but many can benefit from multiple reports.
  • Mar 30, 2021 01:09 PM
    Last: 3yr
    2.2k

    What a lot of people don't think about when you invest into any stock or digital asset or piece of land, pretty much any asset you own that appreciates in value, is you have to pay taxes on your profits, what's called a Capital Gains tax.

    This was not a fun fact for me to learn, for two reasons. 1) it means your gains are less because you have to factor out taxes. 2) you have to keep track of all your transactions and go through the pain of filing them on your taxes.

    But once you normalize to the reality it's not that big of a deal. Just know there are 2 different kinds of capital gains tax - short term and long term. You pay different %s based on how long you held the asset.

    If you hold an asset for less than 12 months, then you pay a short term capital gains tax, which is equal to the highest tax bracket you fall in. Note you only have to pay taxes on the profits you made.

    For long term, the rates are lower, it's the govt's way of incentivizing you to invest more long term, which is longer than 12 months. And in this situation you can actually pay 0% if you make $40,000/yr or less. If you make more than that it's 15% on profits. (unless you make over $441,451, then it's 20% tax)

    Just a helpful reminder for anyone thinking of investing their stimulus checks into the stock market, or just when you invest in pretty much anything in the future, remember to always calculate (and file and pay) your capital gains tax, and avoid any issues with the IRS.

  • Mar 29, 2021 05:51 PM
    Last: 3yr
    2.6k

    There's been a federal law in existence for a while now that guarantees you one free credit report every 12 months. And the place to go is the annual credit report website, which I just did, and I saw something interesting..

    Basically due to the current state of the economy, all credit bureaus are offering free weekly credit reports. So a credit report does not include your score for free but you can see everything good and bad and all your history for free on a regular basis, at least for the time being. And after that you can still use the site once a year for free.

    Also important to note that checking your credit in this way does not effect your credit score in any way.

  • Mar 27, 2021 03:00 PM
    Last: 3yr
    772
    Hmmm. How much money does Banksy even make? Found an article which seems to answer your question btw. TLDR: he has sold prints through various websites.
  • Mar 28, 2021 05:45 PM
    Last: 3yr
    754

    I guess if you really wanted to get out the calculator and run the numbers (something I'm usually down for) then you would also have to factor in property taxes. And then even social security taxes if you are a retiree. And found out your total tax liability vs other states.

    Actually as I'm writing this I googled it and found this article called 2020's Tax Burden by State which factors in all taxes more or less per state.

    If you compare Texas vs Washington for example it's closer than you would suspect. Washington ranks 29th with a total tax burden of 8.32% and Texas ranks 32nd with 8.2%.

    So states just differ on their ways of collecting taxes, seems more like a dealer's choice than necessarily a great break for us one way or another. But there are certainly worse states than others. New York (12.28%) and Hawaii (11.48%) are the worst. While Delaware (5.52%) and Alaska (5.16%) are the best.

    Seems you are right about in the middle tax wise overall. If this article is to be believed data wise.

  • Mar 26, 2021 09:40 PM
    Last: 3yr
    1.7k
    kelly_f Wrote:I hear though, that Australia and New Zealand are expensive to live in because it cost more to get goods and resources there.
    Yeah maybe so. At least for some things that need to be imported, similar to Hawaii here in the states.
  • Mar 26, 2021 09:40 PM
    Last: 3yr
    1.7k
    BlankCheck Wrote: Oh also don't forget some of the Asian countries like Thailand. I hear it is very affordable to live there. Plus you have good there on top of that. :)

    Appreciate the advice but what does 'you have good there on top of that' mean?

  • Mar 27, 2021 02:48 PM
    Last: 3yr
    732

    Friend of mine that's smart with money told me a 'trick' that I thought was worth sharing here for everyone that has a mortgage and the means - make a mortgage payment every 28 days.

    If you think about it, that's actually more than just paying your mortgage every month as 365 days / 28 days = 13 payments.

    That means you would be paying one extra payment every year which can save you tons in the long run. I think he said something like paying off his 20 year mortgage 5 years faster, or something like that. Anyways I thought this was clever enough to be actually doable more many without breaking the bank and a way to save a lot of money in the long run.

  • Mar 23, 2021 02:39 PM
    Last: 3yr
    799

    This is the problem with untargeted stimulus checks. I'm certainly not complaining but Congress must have known that many that didn't immediately need the money would invest it. I don't think it's a problem but I do recognize the relief program was intended to stimulate the economy now and not grow investment portfolios.