|
Originally Posted by indyscott
(Post 12300217)
I believe this might be the correct answer.
Have you checked the tax implications of selling your house? If you had a capital gain, you may want to roll that into another property soon (even if it's an investment property) in order to avoid paying the capital gains tax. |
Originally Posted by ExitRowAisle
(Post 12300582)
Good advice, if today was August 29, 1996! ;)
|
Originally Posted by Happy
(Post 12300632)
Was it in 1996 the Cap Gain allowance raised to 250K / 500K on sale of primary residence?
|
How about this?
LAGOS, NIGERIA. ATTENTION: THE PRESIDENT/CEO DEAR SIR, CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL HAVING CONSULTED WITH MY COLLEAGUES AND BASED ON THE INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE NIGERIAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE TO REQUEST FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE TO TRANSFER THE SUM OF $47,500,000.00 (FORTY SEVEN MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) INTO YOUR ACCOUNTS. THE ABOVE SUM RESULTED FROM AN OVER-INVOICED CONTRACT, EXECUTED COMMISSIONED AND PAID FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS (5) AGO BY A FOREIGN CONTRACTOR. THIS ACTION WAS HOWEVER INTENTIONAL AND SINCE THEN THE FUND HAS BEEN IN A SUSPENSE ACCOUNT AT THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA APEX BANK. WE ARE NOW READY TO TRANSFER THE FUND OVERSEAS AND THAT IS WHERE YOU COME IN. IT IS IMPORTANT TO INFORM YOU THAT AS CIVIL SERVANTS, WE ARE FORBIDDEN TO OPERATE A FOREIGN ACCOUNT; THAT IS WHY WE REQUIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE. THE TOTAL SUM WILL BE SHARED AS FOLLOWS: 70% FOR US, 25% FOR YOU AND 5% FOR LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXPENSES INCIDENT TO THE TRANSFER. THE TRANSFER IS RISK FREE ON BOTH SIDES. I AM AN ACCOUNTANT WITH THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC). IF YOU FIND THIS PROPOSAL ACCEPTABLE, WE SHALL REQUIRE THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS: (A) YOUR BANKER'S NAME, TELEPHONE, ACCOUNT AND FAX NUMBERS. (B) YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS -- FOR CONFIDENTIALITY AND EASY COMMUNICATION. (C) YOUR LETTER-HEADED PAPER STAMPED AND SIGNED. ALTERNATIVELY WE WILL FURNISH YOU WITH THE TEXT OF WHAT TO TYPE INTO YOUR LETTER-HEADED PAPER, ALONG WITH A BREAKDOWN EXPLAINING, COMPREHENSIVELY WHAT WE REQUIRE OF YOU. THE BUSINESS WILL TAKE US THIRTY (30) WORKING DAYS TO ACCOMPLISH. PLEASE REPLY URGENTLY. BEST REGARDS |
Originally Posted by Happy
(Post 12300632)
Was it in 1996 the Cap Gain allowance raised to 250K / 500K on sale of primary residence?
|
No miles, but closed end bond funds could be a pretty good play. Check www.etfconnect.com for a decent search engine. GIM, PIM, FAX, FCO, WIA, CSQ, MTS, BDF are all kinda interesting. CEF's are baskets of assets which sell through the day at discounts or premiums. Typically these are low volume and often undervalued. Could be a good home for a portion of your $150K.
|
Remember also that your AA miles can be exchanged for double Hilton Points. 87,500 miles exchanged would get you 6 nights at almost any Hilton and some rooms we have stayed in are $400-500 per night, so the 6 months of interest lost would be less than the room gained, plus you would be moving toward your million AA miles in the interim. I am opening an account there myself for the winter with $100K moved from our seasonal business. If interest were higher I would not do this, but I think it is a great way to get the points with little effort until the funding with credit card accounts get ironed out as to who is charging for a cash advance vs. purchase.
JudyJFLA |
Originally Posted by pierre mclopez
(Post 12303229)
No miles, but closed end bond funds could be a pretty good play. Check www.etfconnect.com for a decent search engine. GIM, PIM, FAX, FCO, WIA, CSQ, MTS, BDF are all kinda interesting. CEF's are baskets of assets which sell through the day at discounts or premiums. Typically these are low volume and often undervalued. Could be a good home for a portion of your $150K.
|
Originally Posted by pierre mclopez
(Post 12303229)
No miles, but closed end bond funds could be a pretty good play. Check www.etfconnect.com for a decent search engine. GIM, PIM, FAX, FCO, WIA, CSQ, MTS, BDF are all kinda interesting. CEF's are baskets of assets which sell through the day at discounts or premiums. Typically these are low volume and often undervalued. Could be a good home for a portion of your $150K.
The time to buy closed end bond funds was between end of last year and beginning of this year. Stressed bonds bottomed long before stock market bottomed. They have all appreciated hugely already. The risk to buy them now is much higher. Also, dont confuse a bond fund with a bond - with a bond, if you dont go to the lowest layers, you usually can get back face value at maturity. Same cannot be said with bond fund as it is a basket of bonds and the fund does not hold the bonds to maturity but trade them. |
Originally Posted by skofarrell
(Post 12298510)
Forget the points, earn interest.
+1 to Alliant. I've found them to be an excellent Credit Union. Great web site, great service, friendly people, and their checking/savings rates are awesome (currently 2.0% savings, 1.75% checking) They are the 7th largest in the county (http://creditunionaccess.com/top50creditunions.htm ). They have more than $6 billion in assets, and over 250K members. So, I don't think between their size and the backing of the FDIC like NCUA you have anything to worry about. That is unless you are thinking the banking system in general going to collapse. If you do, I'd recommend Krugerrands. BTW, they were originally United's employee credit union "back in the day". Your first free order of checks feature United aircraft. :) Unlike PenFed which membership can be "bought", Alliant's seems no way if you are not residents of greater Chicago, or employed by one of the qualified organizations. However, the unusual high rates (much higher than PenFed and State Farm Employee CU) is kind of suspicious. |
Originally Posted by Happy
(Post 12305351)
Too bad we dont fall into any of the "Qualified" member requirement.
Unlike PenFed which membership can be "bought", Alliant's seems no way if you are not residents of greater Chicago, or employed by one of the qualified organizations. http://www.alliantcreditunion.org/me...organizations/ If a local PTA is not convenient, it costs only $25 to join the National PTA: https://www.pta.org/ssl/natmem/ However, the unusual high rates (much higher than PenFed and State Farm Employee CU) is kind of suspicious. I've been a member for over two years and have nothing but good things to say about them. Credit unions don't have to answer to wall street, just their members. That is why they offer better rates on deposits, loans, and don't jack you around on the credit cards they offer. Here's Alliant's latest financials: http://www.alliantcreditunion.org/pd...ual_Report.pdf |
Originally Posted by Happy
(Post 12300242)
Capital gain on selling a house that is one's primary residence and occupied 2 out of the 5 years preceeding the sale, is only taxable ABOVE 250,000 gain. Hard to imagine a $150K proceeds would have a capital gain higher than 250K. Besides, only the portion above 250K is taxable.
Only investment property requires the roll-over method to DEFER tax. If OP inherits the property, the value is determined as market value at the time he inherits it - chances are, the market value would be much higher when the inheritance taken place than now. In my defense I've only been buying/selling investment properties for the last few years. Mea culpa. |
Originally Posted by skofarrell
(Post 12305541)
The easiest way in is to be a PTA member (under "L" and "P" in the link below):
http://www.alliantcreditunion.org/me...organizations/ If a local PTA is not convenient, it costs only $25 to join the National PTA: https://www.pta.org/ssl/natmem/ Not sure why you're suspicious. They are in the top 10 of credit unions in the country and deposits are backed by the federal government (NCUA, the "FDIC" of Credit Unions). I've been a member for over two years and have nothing but good things to say about them. Credit unions don't have to answer to wall street, just their members. That is why they offer better rates on deposits, loans, and don't jack you around on the credit cards they offer. Here's Alliant's latest financials: http://www.alliantcreditunion.org/pd...ual_Report.pdf When a financial institution pays twice as much to take in deposits, it is almost no question that said institution is in dire need of capital. WaMu was offering exceptional high yield, right up to their failure. Yes, FDIC insures up to 250K, and supposedly it is a seamless function when bank fails, the depositors get back all their money, usually with very minimal delay or no delay at all, as FDIC tends to do this thing on a Friday after banking hours. However, caveat is, the white knight bank which takes over the closed down one, has the right to only pay the principal, not the interest, or alter the terms on the CDs. Chase has been doing that to existing WaMu CDs after it took over WaMu. |
Comparing Alliant (profitable CU) to WauMu (dying from bad mortgages) is ludicrous. :rolleyes:
Here's what Alliant's management team says, from the first page of the latest annual report (in the link above), which I'm guessing you didn't read: A safe place for strong returns to members During the past year Alliant continued to rank in the top 1% of credit unions nationally in “giveback” to members. (“Giveback” is a measure of Alliant’s deposit and loan rates relative to other institutions.) Our savings rates bested the bank average by nearly 3½ percentage points. Between August 2007 and December 2008, the Federal Reserve lowered short-term interest rates by 5 percentage points; during that period, Alliant’s savings rate declined by only 1.35 percentage points. Borrowers also benefited from Alliant membership. While many other lenders were in retreat, Alliant made an all-time high $1.1 billion in new loans in 2008. Total loan balances topped $3 billion at year-end, an increase of 20% over 2007. By adhering to our prudent lending practices, Alliant never made subprime loans or engaged in other questionable lending practices, and our strong capital and liquidity have allowed us to continue making sound loans. Members again enjoyed Alliant’s “everyday low rates” on loans, borrowing at rates 0.25% – 1% below those at most other lenders. Alliant hasn’t been entirely unaffected by the weak economy. Loan charge offs increased to 0.51% of loans in 2008 from 0.40% the prior year – still well below industry averages 1. Stable, profitable CU 2. No bad mortgages. 3. 7th largest CU in the US 4. Growing membership base 5. Stated goal of giving back to members in the form of high interest rates 6. Easy to join 7. NCUA insured You understand we're talking about passbook savings and interest bearing checking right? Accounts where you yank your money out at the first sign of trouble? Not their certificates, for which their rates are only average (60mo 3%). But its OK, be "suspicious", and keep your money earning 0.5%. Makes no difference to me. :) |
Colonial Bank took out 1/4 page ad touting their high rates for several weeks in July.
Colonial Bank was taken over by FDIC Aug 14 and it is eventually taken over by BB&T. Before its failure, Colonial bank has 25 billions in assets and 20 billion in deposits - it is 100 times larger than the typical bank to have failed this year. http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/14/news...n=money_latest I just want to point out the obvious - no bank / CU or any financial institution, would offer much higher than market rate to attract deposits unless they have a need to replenish their capital. Any business would try to keep its cost of capital as low as possible. It is really business 101. BTW, what makes you have the conclusion of my money only earns 0.5%? :rolleyes: I am willing to not make the EXTRA 0.35% to avoid the hassle to "yank my money at the first sign of trouble" because I dont want to monitor the safety of my bank accounts. Given our travelling, I want to make sure I have instant access to my money whenever I need it, when we are at the other side of the world. Heck, we completely missed the May 26th news FDIC extended the 250K insurance thru 2013 - they must be very fearful of another bank run similar to last year's that brought IndyMac down. I just learned about it thru this thread when someone mentioned the expiration was extended, so I googled it. We were in Australia/Asia between May and July for 2 months, with very little input of what was going on in US. After all, 0.35% on 150K as this example, only amounts to $525 BEFORE TAX. Not a whole lot of money to worth the trouble to keep switching bank accounts to chase rates.
Originally Posted by skofarrell
(Post 12306584)
Comparing Alliant (profitable CU) to WauMu (dying from bad mortgages) is ludicrous. :rolleyes:
Here's what Alliant's management team says, from the first page of the latest annual report (in the link above), which I'm guessing you didn't read: So, 1. Stable, profitable CU 2. No bad mortgages. 3. 7th largest CU in the US 4. Growing membership base 5. Stated goal of giving back to members in the form of high interest rates 6. Easy to join 7. NCUA insured You understand we're talking about passbook savings and interest bearing checking right? Accounts where you yank your money out at the first sign of trouble? Not their certificates, for which their rates are only average (60mo 3%). But its OK, be "suspicious", and keep your money earning 0.5%. Makes no difference to me. :) |
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 5:25 pm. |
This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.