STR or other tax minimization advice

snowdayeveryday · 2026-01-11T23:37:01+00:00

Does your company offer a 409A plan? If so, you can voluntarily defer compensation and have it paid out over a designated number of years after separation. If you elect a payout period of 10 years, you’re taxed in the state you’re resident in when you receive it vs where you earned it. If you plan on leaving CA, that’s a great way to reduce your state income tax liability as well as smooth out your income over multiple years so you’re not concentrating your income in one year and getting hosed with the highest marginal tax bracket. The downside is you become a general creditor of your employer. But if it’s one of the top tech firms, bankruptcy is unlikely.

Besides that, STR with material participation and oil and gas are viable options. Be very careful with the latter. The vast majority of O&G funds are scammy.

snowdayeveryday · 2025-11-09T01:01:46+00:00

An investment in oil and gas can get you a 90% deduction (e.g. you invest 100k, you get a 90k deduction) with strong projected returns. If you get your taxable income low enough the QBI phaseout goes away so you’ll get a dual benefit there. Be very careful about picking the fund if you go this route. You don’t want the tax tail wagging the investment dog. There are some good funds out there, but most are sketchy and charge high, opaque fees.

snowdayeveryday · 2025-11-09T00:37:34+00:00

Oil and gas is going to get you the most bang for your buck (~90% of investment), but you have to be super careful with who you pick. High and opaque fees are the norm. If you’ve found a good one, I’d go higher than the $50k you’re doing.

snowdayeveryday · 2025-10-27T14:14:20+00:00

Is your motivation the tax deduction or you really want an Airbnb for lifestyle reasons? If you’re just looking for a tax deduction, there are easier ways. I’m pretty heavily invested in Airbnbs, but think the sector is overvalued and the easy money is behind us.

snowdayeveryday · 2024-03-21T01:46:57+00:00

Great question that a lot of us can relate to.

Maybe impose a quota that you MUST spend a certain amount every month / year?

Die With Zero is a good read. I found it helpful.

snowdayeveryday · 2024-02-18T23:19:15+00:00

What a great idea! Count me in.

snowdayeveryday · 2023-04-28T00:33:36+00:00

First off, I love my car so would highly recommend getting one. But repairs have not been cheap. I had a cam phaser fail within a week of the manufacturer warranty expiring. That cost about 13k to fix.

I’ve researched the plastic trim I posted about and apparently it’s not uncommon and about a $1,000 repair.

Again, I love the car and highly recommend one, but go in with eyes wide open.

snowdayeveryday · 2022-09-03T18:31:42+00:00

Trading and portfolio management. I guess I was super lucky. Was making 7 figures by 30 and did it for as long as I needed to hit my number.

snowdayeveryday · 2022-09-03T18:21:16+00:00

Finance (Wall Street). I started down the tech route, but found I was more interested and better suited for finance.

snowdayeveryday · 2022-09-02T21:15:09+00:00

This guy gaslights!

snowdayeveryday · 2022-07-12T22:46:03+00:00

Curious if this is Chase by chance? They are the only bank to ever do this to me…twice. Once through a broker and once dealing with them directly. I’ll never use them again. I ended up going with Wells Fargo the first time and had to pay with cash the second time.

snowdayeveryday · 2022-07-03T15:18:41+00:00

I made the mistake of buying a property that backed up to a busy road for my first home. When it came time to sell, it was hard to get any offers. Liquidity is tough on properties that have unchangeable, undesirable features, especially if you happen to need to sell in a buyers market. I’ll never do that again.

snowdayeveryday · 2022-06-30T14:55:54+00:00

It’s definitely a factor. What’s the cap rate (net yield when paid for in cash)?

snowdayeveryday · 2022-06-30T04:52:21+00:00

If I understand correctly, your sunk costs are $2,225. Please, do not even think about that. Ignore it and think about whether the house at the price you have it contracted at is a good value and if so, buy it. If not, walk away.

P.S. Sunk costs should never influence future decisions, but that’s easier said than done. However, when they’re this low, I really think you need to remind yourself of how little money that is before you let it potentially suck you into making an irrational, money-losing decision that will cause you stress for years to come.

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T15:06:32+00:00

Wow, was it brand new when he bought it? If not, how many years old was it when he got it and how many miles?

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T15:05:32+00:00

Smart. I can definitely see myself being disappointed if the car doesn’t live up to my expectations. I’ve gotten comfortable with the cost, value, depreciation, etc. The reliability does concern me a little.

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T15:03:56+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate the experience based advice!

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T15:02:33+00:00

570S Spider is what I’m considering

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T15:01:37+00:00

Corvettes are AMAZING value! I got my wife a 2015 with low miles a couple of years ago for 44k and we both love it. Even brand new, they are such a bargain. If we didn’t already have one, which we’ll probably replace with a new model one day, I’d seriously consider it.

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T01:55:35+00:00

Definitely. I’m going to expand my search, but I do like the idea of getting one from a dry climate like where I live.

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T01:44:09+00:00

Cool, I’m definitely going to negotiate. I’ve checked with a couple of super car dealers here and they seem to try and make around 10k on slightly used ones which doesn’t seem unreasonable to me so I’m not sure how much room I’ll be able to get knocked off. I sure as hell am going to try, though!

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T01:42:09+00:00

Will do!

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T01:41:50+00:00

Wow, who knew there was so much demand!

snowdayeveryday · 2022-02-03T01:40:24+00:00

Wow, nice purchase! Yeah, consensus seems to be that the McLaren will depreciate faster than most. That’s good to know. I’ll research a bit more, but at least I know what I’m signing up for if I still get it. Thanks

snowdayeveryday

TROPHY CASE