Afford Anything

Tag: capital gains taxes

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#362: Ask Paula: Okay Seriously, Why Hasn’t Anyone Solved the Budgeting Issue?

David is questioning how to better manage his spending. He’d like a stronger framework to think through budgeting challenges.

Elisa and her husband bought a home, and now they’re saving extra income every month. She has a pension and her husband is an entrepreneur. How much should they be saving for retirement and how should they invest their extra money?

Geoff invested primarily in taxable brokerage accounts for the last twenty years. He’s built a $6 million portfolio and reached financial independence. He wonders about the smartest strategy for withdrawing from those taxable brokerage accounts to efficiently manage capital gains?

Jenna and her husband are planning on buying their next home in a few years. She wants to know if I-bonds are a good way to save for the down payment and closing costs.

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.

Enjoy!

P.S. Got a question? Leave it here.

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#354: Ask Paula: How Do I Make Sure I Don’t Spend the Money I’ve Invested?

Charlie in Cali has enough money saved to pay cash for a house, but she and her husband decided to finance their home, instead. They’d rather invest the money and arbitrage the spread.

But one problem: how can they keep themselves from touching this investment?

Jay is choosing between Fidelity and M1 Finance and has questions about tax loss harvesting.

Nicole and her siblings will be inheriting some properties that they eventually plan to sell. How should they set up or organize these properties among so many owners? Should one person take the lead? Do they need a shared business account? Also, how should they evaluate a property and make sure they get a good deal when they sell?

Ed owns three homes, two of which he plans to sell in the next few years. He plans to live in them long enough to establish residence and take the capital gains exemption when they sell. Is his plan for handling the taxes solid?

We answer these four questions in today’s episode.

Enjoy!

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By Paula Pant

#330: Ask Paula: How Do I Know If I’m Ready to Retire?

Linda is 58 and wondering how to account for her Social Security benefits when thinking through the 25x expenditure equation. Her expected expenses are $100,000 – $150,000. How can she figure out if she’s ready to retire?

Mr. Man is eligible to retire with a full pension, health benefits, and social security at age 48. He has 20 years to go. Should he include his pension and social security benefits in his financial independence plan, or think of them as extras?

“Timothy,” a lawyer from Colorado, has $250,000 in a SEP-IRA account that’s invested in mutual funds with fees ranging from 0.61 percent to 1.06 percent. Fees on these funds are projected at $200,000 over the next 20 years. Should he and can he transfer these funds to another SEP-IRA account? What are the consequences of doing that?

Alise has dreamed of living abroad for long periods of time and wants to buy a property in Portugal before the minimum spend requirement increases. Should she go through with this, or is there another way to gain dual citizenship or travel abroad for long periods of time?

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer more of your questions.

Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.

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By Paula Pant

#328: Ask Paula: I’m on the Verge of Retirement and My Taxes are Rising … Help!

Sarah O Sahara’s parents sold their rentals and business of 24 years. They’d like to create a trust for their grandkids with boundaries in place to avoid entitlement. How should they structure this trust?

Renee and her husband are in their 60s, and most of their retirement funds are in pre-tax accounts. They have federal tax credits they’d like to use to move these funds into taxable accounts. Is this a sound strategy?

Anonymous “Yvette” in Canada has a fully paid off condo that she wants to turn into a rental once her new townhome is ready. Should she mortgage against the condo to reduce the mortgage on her townhome? Are there any tax benefits to having a mortgage on a rental?

Luis’s wife wants to start moonlighting in her field. Can she open and contribute to a Solo 401k even though she has a TSP account with her 9-to-5 employer?

Russell and his partner want to emigrate to Canada in the near future. Should they move their investments into Canadian funds?

My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me once again to answer your questions. Enjoy!

(Have an investing, entrepreneurship, lifestyle, or decision-making question you’d like us to answer? Submit it here!)

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By Paula Pant

#308: Ask Paula – I Want to Travel After I Retire; How Much Should I Save?

Anonymous in Virginia wants to travel after retiring, which will increase her expenses for the first seven or so years of her retirement. How can she plan for a higher withdrawal rate at the beginning of retirement, and a lower withdrawal rate in the middle of her retirement?

Given the talk around student loan forgiveness, Jess wants to know: should she pay the minimum on her student loan debt and save the payments she would otherwise make? Or should she keep throwing extra at her higher interest loans?

Ziggy purchased an $890,000 property in San Mateo, CA in 2016. After living there for a year, he had to move, so he rented it out. Unfortunately, it’s cash flow negative. Is this property worth holding onto, or should he sell?

Vivek has a paid-off primary residence that he’s interested in renting out for a few years, before selling. He’s worried about capital gains tax – does turning the home into a rental impact the amount he’ll pay?

My friend and former financial planner, Joe Saul-Sehy, joins me to answer these questions on today’s show. Let’s dive in!

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