A Gig, I thought, always had a kind of 1950’s/ 1960’s hipster vibe. This was something you did on the side while waiting for real life to catch up! The Gig is gaining more legitimacy these days, I believe. It means a free-lance or a side job you hold down out of interest or necessity. It is also called a “Gig Economy,” or a “Shared Economy,” and sometimes people hold down more than one or two gigs.
One of the most positive aspects of my job is to talk to people who come in with their start-up ideas. Whether those are tried & tested ideas or totally out of the box schemes, the excitement at starting something new is always palpable. It’s like planning a baby’s room or buying a new house.
Starting off on my 100th blog post is extremely exciting to say the least! From my first post nearly 3 and half years ago, I think I have come a long way indeed! My stat-counter this morning read 78,670 views and that to me, friends, is a definite thumbs-up to continue continue to do what I am doing! What do you think?
What do you think?
Having moved around a lot growing up, I think I have had the most unique of experiences and, learnt to assimilate wherever I am, and to make connections with people. But of course, I never saw it as an advantage while I was still little. Having to say goodbye to friends more often than not and starting over in a new place was painful. Even with all the worldwide turmoil these days, travel continues to fascinate me. My husband and I would like to travel a lot when we are retired, which definitely differs from moving house from place to place, and that brings us to today’s topic.
There is something about old doors and entryways that fascinate me! Maybe it is the mystery of what lies beyond, the unknown, the thrill of opening closed doors to discover new places, new feelings, new people. But it is not as simple as that anymore, is it? These are different and more difficult times we live in now, I guess!
We could go down a very deep, philosophical route examining what Identity is, but we have to limit our discussion here to what Identity is in a digital age. And we all know how that ties into our finances!
We also know of all the hacks trying to get in on that precious information.
My kids did their share of summer camps growing up and like many other parents, my husband and I dealt with guilt and whiny kids. Many are luckier than us; they have a Flex Spending Account (FSA) through their employer to defray some of the hefty costs of day-care. Let’s take a look at what summer camp costs are tax-deductible.
Mutual funds are defined as “an investment vehicle that is made up of a pool of funds collected from many investors for the purpose of investing in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and similar assets.”
The logic behind investing in mutual funds is that, instead of placing money directly into the Stock Market and losing due to incorrect speculation, the investment is handled by efficient fund managers. Risks are lowered due to the diversification of the portfolio according to an individual’s risk tolerance. That’s what mutual funds are for those who didn’t know.
I looked up my last blog post and realized I have not posted here since January! What a tax season it was, and how did time get away from me? Oh wait…I know how!
The past few years have seen a steady growth of a client base that has foreign accounts: no complaints there! Most clients have very routine FBAR filing requirements but then sometimes things are a little out of the ordinary and that gets me all excited…yes, I know..it does! That either tells you about my lack of a life during tax season or we should just notch it up to tax nerd-iness!
Just before tax season I sometimes feel like that man in the old movies about cars- you know the one where he ran ahead with a flag announcing there was a car on the way! Well, tax season is officially just a few days away & the Internal Revenue Service has announced January 19th, 2016- so go figure!
I usually send out a nifty Tax Organizer for my clients every year around this time, so they have all their records together when they are ready for me. But this is a great list to have whether you do your taxes by yourself or you hand them over to your Enrolled Agent or other tax professional. Read More
A lot has been written about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act {FATCA} in the past year. As this year comes to a close and I write up this post, I wanted to give you all, my dear readers a synopsis at your finger-tips, a round-up, if you will of some major FATCA events for 2015:
1. FBAR Deadlines Changed:
On July 31, 2015 President Obama signed the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 into law, which modified the due date of several key forms for Americans with foreign income and Americans living abroad. That includes the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or Form 114, colloquially known as the FBAR.
Any U.S. person with a financial interest in, or signatory authority over, foreign financial accounts must file the FBAR, if at any time, the aggregate value of their relevant foreign account or accounts exceeds $10,000. An account over Read More
It is not uncommon anymore that a US Citizen has parents and elders living in foreign countries who may have set up trusts in those countries under (obviously) its laws. There are also US Citizens who have expatriated to/ now live in foreign countries and set up trusts for their children there.
Today’s post was prompted by questions from several clients about an urban legend that seems to be perpetuating itself out there: “You do not have any US tax reporting requirements if you are a US citizen/ permanent resident and your foreign assets and/ investments are in a foreign trust.”
If you have believed this to be true and set up a trust in a foreign country or are thinking of taking this step or are just Read More
There is a lot of buzz going around these days about FBARs, foreign accounts, foreign corporations, IGAs, tax treaties, more & more Swiss banks on the roll-call list, you name it and they cry “FATCA”! Confusion all-around, fear mongers are having a field day, may be rightfully so, fines are high and penalties higher. People are ready to hit the panic button. Or so one would think!
To quote my favorite Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh here, “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”
If you are wondering what a Thich Nhat Hanh quote is doing on a tax blog but you have one hand hovering over the panic button, just think about it…without going into many of Buddhism’s wonderful practices let me assure you, do decide to end your suffering, however first- DON’T PANIC! Second, hire yourself a good Enrolled Agent who Read More
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