self-employment

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

    ByPaula Pant
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    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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    #326: Ask Paula – The Dangers of Frugality

    ByPaula Pant
    [smart_track_player url="https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/paulaandjaymoney/AA326.mp3" title="Ask Paula - The Dangers of Frugality" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ]

    Photo of Paula Pant crouching down in the middle of woods“Hetty” is struggling with being too frugal, possibly to the detriment of her health. I mentioned in a previous episode that I struggled with frugality for a long time. She wants to know: in what ways was frugality a hindrance or an asset, and how did I get myself out of such a frugal mindset?

    John and his wife aren’t sure how much they should contribute to their daughter’s Ohio 529 plan. They want her to graduate from undergrad debt-free, but they imagine she’ll get help from scholarships and that she’ll work as a teenager. How much is enough?

    Rafael just got a job as a 1099 sales associate and is wondering how the heck to calculate what he’ll owe in taxes.

    Rafael has a second question: he opened an account at Vanguard in December 2020 and noticed that he could still contribute to that account for the first few months of 2021. Which year should he have focused on contributing to?

    Elizabeth has two rental properties: one that’s paid off and profitable, the other which shows a loss. If she put her profitable rental into an LLC, could she still combine the rent from both properties?

    My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer another round of questions.

    By the way, if you have questions on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing, be sure to leave them here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.

  • 17 Lessons to Improve Your Money & Life

    ByPaula Pant

    I’ve learned a ton during the past decade, thanks to reading, interviewing, and massive trial-and-error. I’ve distilled many of these lessons into today’s blog post.

    Here are 17 lessons that can improve your money and life.

    #1: Money Can’t Make You Happy, But Lack of Money Can Make You Unhappy
    They say, “money can’t make you happy.” But that’s false.

    Researchers have examined the link between money and happiness — and guess what? Money can make you happy, to an extent. Multiple studies found a significant correlation between money and happiness among people in low-to-middle income brackets.

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    How Sarah Quit Her Job, Launched an Online Business, and Now Travels As Much As She Wants

    ByPaula Pant

    Five years ago, a Canadian woman named Sarah embarked on a series of life-changing steps. She moved 215 miles away from her hometown. She returned to college (after initially failing a few courses) to finish her degree. After graduation, she landed a cushy job with a pension and plenty of benefits. She got engaged. They bought a house….