Stimulus

[Dirtyhip]

We both got ours.  It's amazing how fast they can work, when they WANT to get something done.

[donkpow]

I haven't checked my bank in the last ten minutes. 

[Jon KITguy]

Is Christmas late.  Now 3 in bank.  Many thanks to Freddy's Pizza, Mrs. Olsen and Jim in Indianapolis US of A.  Free gifts mail in afternoon.

[Randomguy]

8 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Stimulus

I thought this was going to be another sex thread. 

[maddmaxx ★]

Nothing here yet.  

[Dirtyhip]

This money will not sit in a bank.  It will go back into the economy.  We are employing an entire crew to build a home and buying all the bits to complete it. 

Stimulized. 

[bikeman564™]

12 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

We both got ours.  It's amazing how fast they can work, when they WANT to get something done.

this wasn't fast by any means, it was the EOY

[bikeman564™]

I haven't gotten my trump bucks yet maybe he's delivering it personally

[Dirtyhip]

Just now, bikeman564™ said:

I haven't gotten my trump bucks yet maybe he's delivering it personally

It is our money.  Not one penny is HIS money.

[ChrisL]

1 minute ago, Dirtyhip said:

It is our money.  Not one penny is HIS money.

I think Trump sent bikeman a personal check!  

[ChrisL]

I posted in the other thread that ours posted in the account.  We’ll sit on it for now as our taxes have been whacked lately. We lost all of our deductions and have been paying several grand each year. 

We may just end up giving it back to Uncle Sam...

[Dirtyhip]

2 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I posted in the other thread that ours posted in the account.  We’ll sit on it for now as our taxes have been whacked lately. We lost all of our deductions and have been paying several grand each year. 

We may just end up giving it back to Uncle Sam...

Yeah, we get hit too.  Not many deductions at all, except for maxxing out on our retirement contributions.  That does keep the taxes low, for now. 

Oh, I do the healthcare savings account too.  That also helps.  

[bikeman564™]

3 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

healthcare savings account

I love my HSA. Came in real handy last  year

[ChrisL]

1 minute ago, Dirtyhip said:

Yeah, we get hit too.  Not many deductions at all, except for maxxing out on our retirement contributions.  That does keep the taxes low, for now. 

Oh, I do the healthcare savings account too.  That also helps.  

We did the same. I haven’t maxed my 401k but am pretty close and may bump it to Max this year.  I got to know the head of benefits really well and she gave me her personal tip.  

We switched to a high deductible health plan, opened an HSA which has company match, put the money saved on monthly premium into the HSA and with the match actually pay less in health care costs now.   It’s yet to be seen how it impacts our taxes though.

[Ralphie ★]

1 minute ago, bikeman564™ said:

I love my HSA. Came in real handy last  year

It is SO much better than those ))()#$ FSAs where you had to accurately predict your spending for the next year.  Yeah, right!

[Dirtyhip]

1 minute ago, Philander Seabury said:

It is SO much better than those ))()#$ FSAs where you had to accurately predict your spending for the next year.  Yeah, right!

That is what I meant to say.  I have an FSA.  I come pretty close, and have never lost money or been forced to spend down a bunch like at end of the year.  

It is hard to predict, so I aim lower than we usually pay.  We do not qaualify for an HSA.  

[Ralphie ★]

Just now, ChrisL said:

We switched to a high deductible health plan, opened an HSA which has company match, put the money saved on monthly premium into the HSA and with the match actually pay less in health care costs now.   It’s yet to be seen how it impacts our taxes though.

I like the mechanics of the HDHCP, except that the co-pay is totally unpredictable and way too high.  The high water mark for Healthcare for me was US Healthcare before Aetna bought them oot.  An HMO with reasonable premiums, a $2-10 co-pay and NO fucking with medical bills!  That was health care nirvana!

Watch on the HDHCP if it is deducted from your pay pre or post tax.  I had to file amended returns because it was taken oot after tax unlike the 401k, and I ASSUMED it was handled like a 401k.  So I missed a couple years of tax benefits.

 

[Razors Edge ★]

22 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I think Trump sent bikeman a personal check!  

That one may bounce! It seems a lot of those personal ones either bounced or went "missing" in the mail. Never want to be the little guy in business dealing with him.

[bikeman564™]

11 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

We did the same. I haven’t maxed my 401k but am pretty close and may bump it to Max this year.  I got to know the head of benefits really well and she gave me her personal tip.  

We switched to a high deductible health plan, opened an HSA which has company match, put the money saved on monthly premium into the HSA and with the match actually pay less in health care costs now.   It’s yet to be seen how it impacts our taxes though.

I have a BCBS HDHP which came w/ the HSA. My company adds money quarterly which is nice (free money). So far I've not added any of my own. But probably should.

[bikeman564™]

10 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

That is what I meant to say.  I have an FSA.  I come pretty close, and have never lost money or been forced to spend down a bunch like at end of the year.  

It is hard to predict, so I aim lower than we usually pay.  We do not qaualify for an HSA.  

there are qualifications? Seriously, I have no idea.

[Razors Edge ★]

14 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

I love my HSA. Came in real handy last  year

I bet! That was unpredicted, I imagine.

I really hate healthcare "planning".  I think, between me and my employer, we pay $15k+ a year for my and my wife's health insurance (eyecare and dental are separate). I gradually have moved from low co-pay, maximum flexibility to higher co-pays and part of the HMO because I realized we almost never use the healthcare (or maybe ).  Year after year after year, tens of thousands have gone into the "insurance" pot and I personally used about - on average - $100/yr total.  My dental and eyeglasses have been the ones I use and those are cheap.  We have no presecriptions, no major illnesses, and nothing super bad in recent years (a blessing!), but it really makes the whole healthcare and a HSA seem like money I will never spend or get a good return on investment in a given year. 

We were running the numbers last year, and our DOG'S healthcare is way more expensive than our actual healthcare costs for us (basic doctors check-ups).

[bikeman564™]

3 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I bet! That was unpredicted, I imagine.

HSA seem like money I will never spend or get a good return on investment in a given year. 

 

No kidding.

The HSA money is yours forever, so you'll eventually need it. True its snot going to make a lot of money (a kin to bank interest), but  you'll not loose it.  I forget what age, but at a certain point, you may withdraw the funds and use them for anything, even non-medical. But that may be taxed. If used for medical, there is no tax. I used it to pay for my Rx regular glasses, and my Rx sunglasses. Nice not having to shell oot anything from my pocket.

[ChrisL]

7 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

I have a BCBS HDHP which came w/ the HSA. My company adds money quarterly which is nice (free money). So far I've not added any of my own. But probably should.

My company only matches to a certain amount which I am at so they double my contribution.  I haven’t yet paid a penny out of pocket and have about a grand rolling into next year.  

My previous monthly spend towards premium is now what I pay for premium & HSA contribution.  But I would pay $500 a quarter in visits & RX’s out of pocket. Now that it’s covered by HSA I paid $0 out of pocket so it feels like I’m  saving $2,000 a year!

[Dirtyhip]

15 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

there are qualifications? Seriously, I have no idea.

FSA is for people that have lower deductible health plans.  You decide at the end of the year how much you "might" pay in medical care.  Money goes in pre-tax.  You must use that money in one year (plus a small grace period into the following year, April I believe).  HSA is for high deductible plan holders and you can put money in there, and use as you need.  I dont believe it ever expires.  That money is there for your health care.

 

[Razors Edge ★]

3 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

No kidding.

The HSA money is yours forever, so you'll eventually need it. True its snot going to make a lot of money (a kin to bank interest), but  you'll not loose it.  I forget what age, but at a certain point, you may withdraw the funds and use them for anything, even non-medical. But that may be taxed. If used for medical, there is no tax. I used it to pay for my Rx regular glasses, and my Rx sunglasses. Nice not having to shell oot anything from my pocket.

I need to think about the HSA.  That may be what works best for me as a "non-normal" spender of healthcare dollars.  I just hate tracking another set of accounts, but if it makes the most sense, then so be it.

[ChrisL]

1 minute ago, Dirtyhip said:

FSA is for people that have lower deductible health plans.  You decide at the end of the year how much you "might" pay in medical care.  Money goes in pre-tax.  You must use that money in one year (plus a small grace period into the following year, April I believe).  HSA is for high deductible plan holders and you can put money in there, and use as you need.  I dont believe it ever expires.  That money is there for your health care.

 

Correct the money doesn’t expire.  If you move on from the job the contributions stop but you can still use it. Not sure if you can roll it.

[ChrisL]

1 minute ago, Razors Edge said:

I need to think about the HSA.  That may be what works best for me as a "non-normal" spender of healthcare dollars.  I just hate tracking another set of accounts, but if it makes the most sense, then so be it.

I was like you, on a traditional PPO family plan but really not using the benefit it provides.  If I have a major accident we can afford to pay  the deductible so a HDHP + HSA mad a lot of sense.   We save a bunch on premium, put that savings into HSA and then use it for all visits, RX’s, glasses & such.  

The savings was significant for us, just not sure how it will help us on taxes.

[Razors Edge ★]

On the positive side, while no stimulus for me, I did get my final paycheck of the year and due to the earlier "extra" bonus we got, I did not have any 401k $$$ taken out! So, a mini-bonus there for me

[bikeman564™]

2 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

 If I have a major accident we can afford to pay  the deductible so a HDHP + HSA mad a lot of sense.  

 

This. My HDHP has a lower max out of pocket than the standard (lower) deductible HP. For instance, my deductible is IIRC almost 4x the low deductible, but my max out of pocket is ≈1/3 that of the lower deductible. So in the short term I pay more, but long term I pay less. Last year I racked up $140k. I paid aboot a grand of my actual money.

[ChrisL]

1 minute ago, bikeman564™ said:

This. My HDHP has a lower max out of pocket than the standard (lower) deductible HP. For instance, my deductible is IIRC almost 4x the low deductible, but my max out of pocket is ≈1/3 that of the lower deductible. So in the short term I pay more, but long term I pay less. Last year I racked up $140k. I paid aboot a grand of my actual money.

But is that because you had major medical services?  I had nothing other than routine stuff so it was just co pays.

[Prophet Zacharia]

1 hour ago, ChrisL said:

I think Trump sent bikeman a personal check!  

That would be a first.

[MickinMD ★]

1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

We both got ours.  It's amazing how fast they can work, when they WANT to get something done.

I checked my bank accounts.  No change yet. as of noon 12/31.

I got my new laptop an hour ago.  I'll make sure I install all the stuff to check my finances first so I can check, though I may continue to use this, my nephew's laptop for a day of so until I've got everything set up!

 

[Prophet Zacharia]

11 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

On the positive side, while no stimulus for me, I did get my final paycheck of the year and due to the earlier "extra" bonus we got, I did not have any 401k $$$ taken out! So, a mini-bonus there for me

Your HR department must be smarter than mine. Mine keeps putting after-tax money into my 401k once I max out the allowed tax-deferred. That may not happen next year as I put a “0” into my age next month (or I may yet have to up my withholding to max out my tax savings).  This goal of early retirement is ruff! 🐶 

[Razors Edge ★]

1 minute ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

Your HR department must be smarter than mine. Mine keeps putting after-tax money into my 401k once I max out the allowed tax-deferred. That may not happen next year as I put a “0” into my age next month (or I may yet have to up my withholding to max out my tax savings).  This goal of early retirement is ruff! 🐶 

HR - gotta love em!

I had to tweak mine this year to take advantage of being an "official" old guy (50+), so I get that extra "make up" contribution.  I still had to tell the "system" to do $xyz per check, but at least knows to stop at $26k and doesn't keep illegally(?) adding after I hit that.  That's a hard limit across tax deferred or after tax (reg 401 vs Roth 401), so I can't see how HR or HR software could be incapable of handling it correctly.

[Kzoo]

34 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

You must use that money in one year (plus a small grace period into the following year, April I believe).

This is true OR your employer can set an amount (capped by the gov'mt) on what you can roll to the next year.

This has all changed for 2020 to 2021.  The new stimulus act has a provision that ALL unused FSA money can now be rolled to 2021 with no April deadline and no cap on amount rolled.

[Prophet Zacharia]

3 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

That's a hard limit across tax deferred or after tax (reg 401 vs Roth 401), so I can't see how HR or HR software could be incapable of handling it correctly.

I think about 10% of my 401k is made up of after-tax money. As I understand it, I’ll pay tax on 90% of my eventual withdrawals, but none on the other 10%. Idk how that works, tbh, I wish I could take out the tax-free money first!

[Razors Edge ★]

2 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

I think about 10% of my 401k is made up of after-tax money. As I understand it, I’ll pay tax on 90% of my eventual withdrawals, but none on the other 10%. Idk how that works, tbh, I wish I could take out the tax-free money first!

Are you saying you have some blended reg 401 and Roth 401?  It would seem if the Roth option is available, you could plow it all into that as "after-tax" in, no tax when taken out.  For folks starting out, I think the Roths are the way to go from the get go.  It seems a little trickier the older you get, but also seems "easier" to pull off as you might just have a lot more disposable income by then but may need more tax deductions (so the math gets harder).

Anyway, I wonder if you can do "tax free" first as it may be a different sub-account from the traditional 401k, and you can hold off on one until required to withdrawal?

[Kirby]

HSA's can be a wonderful investment, especially for younger people.  The money you deposit is tax-deductible (or pre-tax if done by payroll deduction), can be invested in a variety of investments and it grows tax free, and as long as withdrawals are for medical expenses (or are in an amount no greater than documented, qualifying medical expenses for which you paid cash), the withdrawals are tax free.    No other investment has triple tax benefits like that.   If you make deposits early in life, you can let the money accumulate for years and use it as part of retirement planning for medical expenses later in life.

The downside is you do need a high deductible plan as DH pointed out. Plus if you need to use the money for medical expenses each year, it isn't able to accumulate as much. You also need to see if your company limits places for investment so you don't get stuck with only high cost options, but a number of people I know have accounts with Fidelity which offers a wide variety of investment options.

[petitepedal ★]

My stimulus has not deposited yet . I guess DH comes before PP 

[BuffJim]

My bank has a banner saying they would be making the Stimulus deposits on Monday. Fingers crossed that the financial system doesn’t crash by then. 

[Square Wheels]

Enough with these stimulus posts.

Still mad I don't get one.

[Razors Edge ★]

1 minute ago, Square Wheels said:

Enough with these stimulus posts.

Still mad I don't get one.

Dude, we're talking HEALTHCARE and retirement plans.

[Prophet Zacharia]

I’m not eligible for a Roth. 

[Zephyr]

So EVERYONE gets a cheque?  Must be nice to live in a Socialist country.   

[Square Wheels]

4 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

So EVERYONE gets a cheque?  Must be nice to live in a Socialist country.   

[maddmaxx ★]

7 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

So EVERYONE gets a cheque?  Must be nice to live in a Socialist country.   

No.  We take money from folks like Wheels and give it to people like .....................well, you can see who we give it to.

[Square Wheels]

19 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

No.  We take money from folks like Wheels and give it to people like .....................well, you can see who we give it to.

BMBM

[maddmaxx ★]

22 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

BMBM

Sorry wheels.  Socialism is the big thing this year.

[Ralphie ★]

2 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

I need to think about the HSA.  That may be what works best for me as a "non-normal" spender of healthcare dollars.  I just hate tracking another set of accounts, but if it makes the most sense, then so be it.

Yes, I would certainly think a High Deductible plan is by far best for you since you barely use your insurance.  And you will like accumulating monies in the HSA account for use any time.

[bikeman564™]

2 hours ago, ChrisL said:

But is that because you had major medical services?  I had nothing other than routine stuff so it was just co pays.

yes