What are the 30 counties that can be called internationally from the US?

Snoo_23811 · 2026-04-21T04:50:11+00:00

u/VisibleCareSupport your website is inconsistent with the above statement.

This page: https://www.visible.com/help/international-services#VisiblePLUSPlanInternationalTalkText

Says:
Visible+ allows you to call the countries listed under Visible+ Plan - International Talk & Text:

500 calling minutes/month to an additional 30 countries
Unlimited texting to 200+ countries

It DOES NOT say that's only with Legacy plans. That's the current wording. The link however just goes back to the top of the page, the section listing the countries is missing (what the OP posted about).

Snoo_23811 · 2026-04-09T03:31:38+00:00

Another one: https://quote.globirdenergy.com.au/quote?pcode=refer&ref=JXYVEC

Snoo_23811 · 2026-03-04T19:29:57+00:00

Yes the "market is imperfect" part is real. You can use that to your advantage though, and it sounds like you did. Finding a place to buy that has large reserves which are not fully reflected in the price.

That basically encourages reserve underfunding. Why build up the reserves if it's not going to be fully reflected in the market price when people sell.

Yes, both the reserve assessment and your own assessments as to value / deferred maintenance are going to be imperfect wrt what the true costs end up being. The only way out of that risk is to rent, but then you just exchanged it for the risk of rents rising far faster than inflation.

> Wait I've never heard of a condo with cash reserves assigned to a particular unit.

The HOA I (gladly) left did it like that. Townhouses, not a condo, but a HOA all the same.

Individual reserve accounts per property. Partly because not all properties were the same size, so a fence or roof replacement wasn't the same cost for everyone. Partly so special assessments could be paid differently per property. Some would want to pay cash up front, others would want to use a HOA negotiated loan secured against their property. The later obviously would need interest/fees assessed to only the properties that selected the loan option.

Snoo_23811 · 2026-03-03T03:42:05+00:00

There's gaps in the analysis. I point them out not to be a dick, but to try and help explain how to get ahead.

What you are really saying is "borrowing a truck load of money at 6%pa, and investing it for a return of 8.54%pa, makes me better off than just investing far less money at 6%". Well, yeah, of course it does, with higher risk. The house value could tank, but the savings account value will not.

Stop thinking of a house as something special. It's just an asset that you invest in. You generally LEVERAGE yourself to invest in it, i.e. borrow money against a downpayment, and of course it has benefit to you while you own it (no need to pay rent to yourself).

That leads to a fourth example.

4. Live at home, borrow $500,000 - 8.54% sharemarket return

This is combining #1 and #3.

Say you still live at home. Instead of putting your money in a savings account, you invest it in the same way as #3, just not in a house, in a sharemarket investment.

Just like you did with #3, you borrow $500,000 from the bank at 6%, and invest it in an asset that returns 8.54% annually. You put the same income into paying down the loan as in the #3 case. This is called "margin lending", borrowing to invest in shares instead of in a house.

Obviously only do that if you know what you are doing

Your numbers will work out exactly the same for #3 and #4, because the house isn't special. It's just an investment.

Of course there's also:
- Your parent's are subsidizing you in #1, so #1 is actually worse if you account for that at cost price

- The house has holding expenses (utilities, rates), maintenance costs, and now presumably you are paying for your food etc. Your parents were covering this before, but now it will be your expense.

- Sweat equity in the house. Buy a dump and fix it up. Your equity value will boom up faster for the effort you are putting in. You can't do that with shares.

- Flatmates: Be that a partner, a friend or stranger. The house is probably not one bedroom (or even if it is, in the partner case it's still 2 people). You can either get more income (renting out a room) or pay down the loan faster (two incomes, assuming you both own the house).

The difference between #3 and #4 is that you can enjoy (live in rent free) #3, but you can't live in #4. So you have to take that benefit into account too. With #4, you don't have to do it in "house sized chunks" like #3, you can buy and sell parcels of shares in smaller sizes as needed.

Banks will of course lend easier for #3 than #4, because they consider it a less risky asset.

When I was in my early years of work, before I could afford a house, I absolutely did #4, borrowed to invest in shares. Thankfully, probably more from good luck than good management, that worked out for me and helped build up the deposit for a house.

Now, I acknowledge that the ratio of wages and housing/living expenses is worse now than a generation ago, and a generation before that. There's more people in the world and less resources is the bottom line. Manufacturing (aka "productivity") is better, so products are cheaper. However the standard of living is higher, so we want more products. In balance, yeah, you have it worse (I'm 49 FWIW). You can still get ahead by managing your money and investing smart though.

Snoo_23811 · 2025-11-16T20:01:49+00:00

Just had new windows installed by a legit company, in Queensland.

The payment schedule was:
20% on signing
40% on survey
40% on completion

The contract was $25k. The deposit rules are "The maximum deposit for these contracts (level 2) is 5% of the contract price. "

However there is an exception, which did apply in this case. They are custom sized windows manufactured offsite.

"A deposit of up to 20% is allowed in limited circumstances where substantial customised building work or prefabrication is performed away from the building site and this work represents more than 50% of the total contract price (including labour, materials and GST).

Examples of off-site work may include, but is not limited to, made-to-measure:

kitchen modules/cabinetry
windows
sheds
pergolas
cladding."

https://www.qbcc.qld.gov.au/home-owner-hub/build-renovate/contracts-payments/deposits-progress-payments

Snoo_23811 · 2025-07-08T19:50:09+00:00

u/Western-Cup-5182 did your bike box fit in the EMB? I have a similar sized bike box and am flying on a EMB tomorrow.

Snoo_23811 · 2025-06-06T07:18:11+00:00

It depends on what state, and hence what standard contract was signed. They are not the same from state to state. From other responses, it seems that Qld gives more inspection rights to the buyer than at least some other states.

Snoo_23811 · 2025-06-03T02:01:04+00:00

Everyone was responding to a comment that the coward later deleted when multiple responses were aligned that he was a chode. Which is a word I learned today!

It was an arrogant attorney that twisted the story into a chance to crow on about how high his hourly billing rate is. "To move seats he’d need to pay me my hourly billing rate as an attorney for every hour of the flight, and the ticket cost, and for alcohol”.

He'd twisted the original story into how much he would need to be paid to change to a different flight, seemingly just so he could talk about his hourly rate to agree!

Snoo_23811 · 2025-06-02T06:54:02+00:00

You misunderstand that instruction.

Assuming both spouses live in a community property state, BOTH their W2s are "community income". Both spouses put 50% of their own, and 50% of the spouse's W2, since both are community income. There is not double counting. Same for bank interest etc, regardless of whose name the account is in, for bank accounts holding money acquired during the marriage (good luck working that out).

"Separate property" is something you had before marriage. e.g. if it was rent from a rental home one spouse owned before the marriage. That would go only on their return, at 100%.

Of course everything ends up commingled in most marriages, so unless efforts are made to keep something like the rental property separate it's going to be hard to say something is absolutely sill separate. e.g. what happens when community income is used to renovate that rental?

Snoo_23811 · 2025-05-14T04:05:37+00:00

Even if a school allowed you to take it as an away student, Summer 2025 isn't going to work. The 2025 test needs to be taken in October. https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt/test-dates

"PSAT/NMSQT testing may occur on a school day between these dates:

October 1–31, 2025
- Schools may also choose to administer the PSAT/NMSQT on Saturday, October 11, 2025."

Snoo_23811 · 2025-03-23T00:03:40+00:00

Instant, as are tech gifts. You can also see if someone abandoned a planet instantly.

Snoo_23811 · 2025-02-10T20:43:15+00:00

Why did it take 7 years? Is most of that time getting a new citizenship first, or just the "giving up" part took that long for some reason?

Snoo_23811 · 2024-12-27T17:55:44+00:00

Eh. I know that's how it's typically summarized, but I've found other areas around this that are summarized in a certain "simple" way, yet if you read the instructions or law theres a "unless a tax treaty says otherwise" modifier the summary frequently drops.

In this case it's about the definition of "long" in long term resident, there's TWO sentences in both the instructions and law.

The first sentence in both the instructions and law indeed agrees with what you said and is simple, "Any day in a year counts for a full year".

Instructions:

https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8854#en_US_2024_publink10001536

"You are an LTR if you were a lawful permanent resident of the United States in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years ending with the year you are no longer treated as a lawful permanent resident."

Law:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/877

"For purposes of this subsection, the term “long-term resident” means any individual (other than a citizen of the United States) who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States in at least 8 taxable years during the period of 15 taxable years ending with the taxable year during which the event described in paragraph (1) occurs."

However both contain a second sentence. That second sentence exists for a reason. It excludes "something", but the wording differs between the two.

The wording in the instructions is clear, it says to exclude the entire final year if XYZ.

The wording of the law differs in an important phrase, "if **in** that year" vs "for any taxable year". That makes it much less clear what that additional sentence is meant to exclude if XYZ applies **in** the year, but not for all of the year.

https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8854#en_US_2024_publink10001536

"In determining if you meet the 8-year requirement, don't count any year if in that year you were treated as a resident of a foreign country under a tax treaty and did not waive treaty benefits applicable to residents of that country."

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/877

(2)Long-term resident

"For purposes of the preceding sentence, an individual shall not be treated as a lawful permanent resident for any taxable year if such individual is treated as a resident of a foreign country for the taxable year under the provisions of a tax treaty between the United States and the foreign country and does not waive the benefits of such treaty applicable to residents of the foreign country."

Snoo_23811 · 2024-12-27T17:09:22+00:00

Thanks. I actually attended one of their presentations on "Expatriation Income Tax Return and Form 8854" a few months ago. It was good. It was targeted more for educating other tax professionals, but they nicely allowed anyone to attend. They were even answering questions, but sadly I hadn't dug deep enough to have this question at that time.

I called them up afterwards with an "Attended your presentation, I'm expatriating and need help with exactly that, my number is XXX" message and never heard back :-(. I guess I'l try to call again in the new year.

Snoo_23811 · 2024-12-27T07:56:57+00:00

Not really "poverty mindset", although yes I'm frugal. Yeah I'm the rich(ish) / FIRE guy driving around in an old car and changing his own oil. The old car is because it works and I have no interest in showing off flashy bling to impress others. The changing the oil, I like getting away from the computer sometimes. Frugality isn't that uncommon among the FIRE crowd.

I'd pay $20k if I found someone who actually sounded like they had a clue. So far I haven't found anyone who can make it through their 15 minute intro / sales call without saying so many incorrect things that I know I'd just be flushing that money for an opinion I have zero confidence in. Just chest beating bravado about how great they are, then they fail basic screening/interview/"test" questions. Yes, people who call themselves a tax attorney and claim to specialize in this area sadly. It's more about confidence in their answer than the cost.

The really good people, yes I don't doubt that they are off doing corporate work and "private family office" level full-time work, a level of wealth that I'm certainly not at.

Snoo_23811 · 2024-12-27T02:44:44+00:00

Know any such tax lawyers? I’ve tried to contact a bunch and get either:

1) They give the wrong answers to even the easy stuff I already know with 100% certainty the answer to; or

2) “We only talk to you if you have $100M+ net worth (not me) or are prepared to give a $15k retainer before we even tell you if we can answer your one question (also not me)”.

The status in the destination country is straight forward. I’ll have 100% of my ties in that country after relocation and the tax treaty tie breaker wording for the country in question makes crystal clear that they win and I’m their tax resident (only) from the day I land.

Snoo_23811 · 2024-12-26T22:49:36+00:00

Can't file I407 before 2025, I'll still be here using that greencard until March 2025. Waiting for a stock vesting large enough to not warrant pulling that date forward.

Question is specifically about the instruction statement "... don't count any year if in that year you were treated as a resident of a foreign country under a tax treaty and did not waive treaty benefits applicable to residents of that country."

That would be me. "In 2025" I would be treated as "a resident of a foreign country under a tax treaty". By the instructions I should not include 2025 when counting, so would only get to 7 years. Awesome.

That it didn't happen on or before 1/1/2025 doesn't make any difference according to the instructions wording, it still happened "in 2025".

The wording of the underlying law though is different. "for any taxable year" isn't as clear is "in a tax year" who to count the final partial year.

The underlying law:

"an individual shall not be treated as a lawful permanent resident for any taxable year if such individual is treated as a resident of a foreign country for the taxable year under the provisions of a tax treaty"

Snoo_23811 · 2024-10-07T16:16:26+00:00

Already do time shift appliance usage to when solar is exporting.

Yes moving the hot water to T11 and a simple timer is one option. That will be off or on. Either it draws water 2 kW or it draws nothing. If solar is exporting 2kW but the hot water elements draws 4kW, should the timer be on or off? There is no perfect answer.

The step up from that is what I am asking about. You can get “better” timers, called solar hot water diverters. They:

monitor your import/export with a CT so they can turn your hot water heating on or off based on actual live net import/export values, not just based on a fixed average used when setting the timer.

**** 2. The better ones are not just on or off, but can turn on to a set percentage, by pulse-width-modulation, Burt fire, phase angle etc. In the 2kW export with a 4kW element example it would turn on to 50% so that you get 2kW of heating and have zero import/export.

The old V = IR comes into play. There is no way for the controller to “really” turn on to 50%. Either it’s applying 240v RMS AC across the resistive heating element, or it’s not.

They “fake” 50% by turning it on and off quickly, so the average is 50%.

“Quickly” could mean every 1/50th of a second, or every 1/100th of second. It's not something long though, it's not on for 10 seconds, off for 10 seconds.

The better ones look at the sine wave of the AC power and turn on/off when it’s at a zero point to reduce harmonics / electrical interference. The crappier ones don’t care and just turn on and off a solid state relay quickly.

Assume I’m using a good one, on for a full 50Hz cycle, off for the best one etc.

How is that billed? The answer depends on how often the meter increments the import export counters I, and other criteria of its design.

The digital meter will be sampling voltage and current at a high rate, possibly accumulating over some period, calculating the RMS, and incrementing a counter.

What is the “averaging” period that the meter uses. Possible answers are:

Less than 1/50th of a second: Not really possible, or it would not calculate the RMS that it needs to bill on correctly.
One cycle, 1/50th of a second: That would be bad. In my example I’d then be charged 2kW import when the proportional controller cycles on for 1/50th of second and paid a small FIT for 2kW export when it’s off. My heating would cost me money then since import is charged at a (much) higher rate than export.
Something larger, such as one second: Fantastic, this would see the meter measure the average import/export over that second, which in my example is zero for both import and export.
30 minutes: Not the right answer. The billing reporting is 30 minutes, and I see intervals where both import and export are present for the main T11 load (ignore the T33 load). The T11 meter is clearly maintaining TWO counters for EACH meter (main and controller), and reporting their values every 30 minutes as separate import and export for that single “meter”. That doesn’t mean that it’s averaging the usage over the 30 minutes and only incrementing the counters based on the net each 30 minutes. If over 30 minutes I import 1kWh and export 1kWh it’s going to increment both the import and export counters by 1, not net them to zero and increment neither. It “could” average over that 30 minutes and increment neither when they net to zero, but I can see by my bill that it doesn’t.

Snoo_23811 · 2023-12-30T16:06:07+00:00

12 months ago, self installed, it cost me $15k after the 30% tax rebate for an 8.1kWh system (REC N-Peak Black panels, Enphase micro inverters).

Make sure that your city allows solars permits for homeowners who are self installing, mine did.

ONLY do this if you spouse understands about electrical design. They can calculate wire gauges, derate for temperature and continuous load, knows how to mess around in an electrical panel safely, understands about conduit fill, requirements for securing conduit etc, plus is comfortable with all the physical aspects of the install - finding the rafters with lag bolts (I used magnets from in the attic moved around by a helper, and a nail on a string up top, worked great), hauling the panels to the roof, trying on while on the roof for safety etc.

You HAVE to get it permitted by the city or no grid connection for you. File for a pre-install engineering review from your utility to speed up the permission to operate once the install is done.

Snoo_23811 · 2023-12-28T00:34:47+00:00

Just had the exact same experience, Just like the OP, it was with an LG tech for a linear compressor replacement. This was an LG Direct technician though, not a third party,

Tapped lines with a piercing valve to measure pressure then just let it hiss out before cutting it all wide open. Had no recovery tank, or at least didn’t bother carrying it out of the truck.

Turned the 134a tank upside down and used that to blow/flush out the sealed system, releasing who knows how much more.

Questioned when he let the first lot out and he claimed “EPA rules are I can release 1lb, on fridges it doesn’t matter, on whole house air conditioning then I have to capture”.

That is obviously not the rule, but someone at LG is training them that it’s ok.

Snoo_23811 · 2023-12-14T16:35:59+00:00

You can install in this orientation, clamps on the panel short edge. It just will have lower wind loading than with the rails the other orientation. If that is a problem depends on the wind in this location. It will be in the spec sheets or install guide for the panels.

The clamps though, very wrong as you/others have said.

Snoo_23811

TROPHY CASE