Recent content by Sandy & Shirley

I made taxed contributions to my Social Security Trust Fund for 49 years. If you are saying that my Social Security should be taxed income, why aren’t you also saying that everything taken out of a Roth IRA should be taxable income! Also, why did the government only consider 35 years of my...

Median annual wage in the US was $46,310 in 2022, with median household income at $74,580. My image was for a 2024 individual with $72,500 of gross retirement yearly income, well above the $46,310 2022 average. I am very happy for those with considerably higher than average incomes...

LOL: That is exactly what I am trying to avoid! Do a google search for “IF11397” then follow the crsreports.congress.gov link for “Social Security Benefit Taxation Highlights”. The In Focus congressional report clears says that the 1983 and 1993 congressional laws were designed to reduce...

Let me give you a picture of what our Target 3 will eventually be: We will have reasonable middle income money available that will not push us into the 40.7% marginal tax hump. If we can create some LTCG Harvesting, that income will only be taxed at 10.2%, but it will also create the...

No, it is not the target for the LTCGs. It is the initial target for any extra cash we might have to be used for Roth Conversions. Our combined IRAs are currently 70% Roth. Targets 1 and 2 are 100% Roth for each of our accounts!

As stated above, our mortgage was paid off in 2023. That gives us an extra $18,000 a year of possible income that will not be taxed at the 40.7% tax hump. Our combined IRAs are currently 70% Roth, so that will be our primary target. My partner is 90% Roth, so that will be our first target for...

Our mortgage was paid off in 2023. My partner will switch from 70% Survivor benefits to 130% maximum personal benefits in 2026. We are currently 68.8% Roth converted, 52% myself and almost 90% partner. Plan A is to complete our Roth conversions and to open a pair of standard brokerage...

That is why we always start doing our taxes in January! . . . and no, we are not like everyone else! Almost everyone started their 2023 taxes in January of 2024. We started our 2024 taxes in January. We already know how much we will get from Social Security, Pensions, Annuities, and yearly...

My understanding of the Tax Gain Harvesting is that the $2,500 LTCG will be taxed at 0%, but it will also be counted in the basis for the taxation of your Social Security Benefit which will make an additional $2,125 of your Social Security taxable at 12%. My chart illustrates this as 12% of 85%...

Sounds like it is time for a picture to be worth a thousand words! This is what my income needs looked like when I was faced with a relatively large monthly RV mortgage payment. My primary concern was to keep my taxable income below the point where the 85 cent per dollar taxation of my Social...

Our retirement goals are to live just below what we call our Federal Tax Sweet Spot, where the 85 cent per dollar taxation of our Social Security benefits increase the 12% Federal Tax Bracket to a 22.2% Federal Tax Rate, then increase the 22% Federal Tax Bracket to a 40.7% Federal Tax Rate until...

Looking for my best shot for some LTCGs over the next 2 years. Our mortgage was completed in 2023, so we have some investment opportunities moving forward. I still have about 40% of my savings in standard IRA, so I will be doing maximum 12% bracket Roth conversions. My partner is more...

This is my first year with a standard brokerage account. All of my previous retirement income, other than pensions, came from IRA and Roth brokerage accounts. The amount of taxable SSB is calculated and reported on form 1040 on line 6. The basis for how much is taxable is one half of...

The means testing on the percentage of your SSB that you have to give back to the TRUST fund is also very interesting. If you are avoiding the 40.7% Tax Hump with an after tax lifestyle of 60K to 80K, your taxable SSB will probably be around 60% but you will be in the 12% Tax Bracket, so...

The primary means testing is done by the Social Security Bend Points used to determine our benefits. Using your top 35 years of inflation adjust income, for 2024, your first $1,174 of monthly income is returned to you at 90%, the next $5,904 is returned at 32%, and the next $6,972 is returned...