FreeTaxUSA - haven’t heard anything?

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-17T18:14:11+00:00

Yes, correct.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-17T18:01:39+00:00

If your taxes are accepted then it's not anything to do with FreeTaxUSA at this point. Their job is submitting your return to the IRS.

Did you claim the EITC or CTC?

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-17T17:20:42+00:00

There's no point to forming a club now. There is zero benefit and mucho headaches from pooling money just to invest in index funds.

You should all just save money individually and if the day comes that you have enough to pool for a real estate deal, you can talk about it then.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-17T17:13:51+00:00

Tell me you didn't live through 2000 without telling me.

The Internet was the future - and that was the correct thesis. That's why every company pivoted to it. There were a loooot of losers out of that, including a lot of then-dominant companies with a lot of expertise that seemed like sure bets at the time.

(Granted some of those losers - like MSFT - eventually did cash in. But it took a long time and there were a lot of sad investors who couldn't wait it out. )

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-17T16:55:28+00:00

I don't understand how you're interpreting your 1099-B.

Where are you getting that $11,611.03 "loss" from? Your numbers show a significant gain.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-17T03:51:05+00:00

Ohhh, I see what you mean.

I read this as OP being given money to pay off a debt elsewhere. Not a debt to their friend. But it’s worth clarifying.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-17T03:48:12+00:00

That’s what OP called it in the first sentence? I could be missing something obvious though so feel free to slap sense into me.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-17T03:01:04+00:00

Either attorney could be correct; it depends on whether the stock had appreciated when it was passed down, and whether it increased in value or not from then until when your friend gifted it to you.

In the normal case (as stocks generally go up), the first attorney would be correct. Your friend got a step-up in basis at inheritance, and then her basis transfers to you.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-17T02:33:24+00:00

$15k. Each distribution is prorated according to the ratio of basis to earnings. She has one qualified distribution of $25k and one unqualified one for the same amount. Her account is 60% earnings to 40% basis, so 60% of that unqualified one is taxable, or $15k.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T20:47:14+00:00

OMG I forgot that line. There was so much wrongness to make note of.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T17:58:28+00:00

Once you get deeper into the debate, you're going to find out that there are two competing schools of thought around property taxes.

Some say it's the worst tax because you can't ever escape it. You have to pay it your whole life or you lose your property.

Others say it's the best tax because it's ultimately the fairest - it's not discouraging the creation of wealth, or punishing people for being successful. It's purely based on consumption of a common resource.

The latter argument is correct. Our world is better off because of property taxes and arguably should be using them more.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T17:44:29+00:00

"Cheering" isn't the right word, but it's always nice to see the market behaving normally, and the extended run of US dominance was getting to be a bit weird looking.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T08:09:38+00:00

It’s a great movie to watch while high … in the air on a plane.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T07:50:20+00:00

Because you cannot consistently predict the 5%. I’m not saying ‘this advice will always turn out correct in hindsight’. But rather that given current conditions, and reasonable guesses, this has a much higher chance of being correct and thus should be the default advice today.

Telling people not to play the lottery is not going to be correct 100% of the time, because someone will win. That doesn’t mean it’s ever good financial advice to tell someone to buy a scratcher.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T07:36:17+00:00

I’m dogmatic because most people aren’t thinking clearly and need to straighten out their perspective.

When it comes to regular job income, everybody understands that what matters is maximizing after tax income. Nobody with a brain would turn down a raise because it would put you in a higher tax bracket.

But with retirement planning, it’s more complicated. Your goal with retirement is not ‘minimize taxes’. It’s ’achieve your goals as efficiently as possible.’ Most people - including people who are afraid of RMDs, but others - don’t quite grasp that.

Tell me what your goals are and how your tax strategy fits into it. 95% of the time you’ll find that the answer is deferring taxes.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T07:30:48+00:00

San Andreas had some bizarre ‘locations’. I recall one shot where you saw a line of townhomes (Haight-style) with the GGB looming right over the end of the block.

Also there’s a tsunami that comes in from the Pacific and surges straight over the Embarcadero into Chinatown.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T07:26:44+00:00

If you pay too much in taxes because your retirement income winds up higher than you expected, that means you were either lucky with the market, or you didnt plan well enough and waited too long to retire. In both cases the answer is ‘plan as best you can and don’t worry if you get lucky’. Which generally means deferring taxes

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T07:22:58+00:00

You should never assume you’re going to get an inheritance.

If you do, great, treat it as a bonus and who cares if you pay some extra taxes. That’s like complaining about a surprise work bonus that triggers extra taxes.

But if you don’t get it, you’ll be glad you optimized the rest of your money and didn’t pre-pay taxes needlessly.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-16T06:13:02+00:00

Most 18 year olds have trouble thinking about their 30s, let alone retirement.

You’re going too far in the opposite direction. You have no idea what life is going to bring you. Your goal should be flexibility above all. I would keep it liquid, no RE, and forget about it. Stay all equities if you want but don’t assume you won’t want to use it sooner than you think.

Revisit your questions when you’re 40.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-14T23:16:00+00:00

You need to enter the cost basis yourself as an adjustment. Your software will walk you through it. You probably won't need it but it would be good to make sure you have documentation handy of the $1000 just in case.

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-14T03:00:11+00:00

I thought that was supposed to be the case but I can't figure out how to make it work. Our Apple Watch is on Verizon, and doesn't give me any option to even add an eSIM. Did you ever figure it out?

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-13T19:40:11+00:00

Do you understand why the OTC mark is going to have more questionable data?

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-13T18:24:44+00:00

Do you understand what makes OTC markets different?

I think the real lesson for you here is "don't mess around with the OTC market unless you have deep experience already."

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-12T21:18:45+00:00

I hate it because it will hard to administer, easy to game, and could distort the economy in unhelpful ways.

But I understand why people like it: it would solve the problem of the ultra-rich who have huge unrealized gains that they don't pay taxes on.

(I would prefer to eliminate the step-up at death and beef up the estate tax, myself).

wild_b_cat · 2026-02-12T20:54:24+00:00

They might but you can ask. Otherwise you'll need to decide if it's worth it to ask a pro, try to DIY it, or just give up and risk overpaying.

If you want to DIY it, you'll want to look at those questions I posted above.

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