The Money Cruncher, CPA Private

A licensed CPA talking about personal finance. I write for 18,000 readers
Not a financial/tax advice

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

Trump accounts (§530A) are now live.

Here's everything you need to know about them (including how to open one step by step):

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

3.5 years ago | sold all my individual stocks and bad ETFs.

I reinvested the money in 2 ETFs:

Vanguard Technology ($VGT) and the US Total Market ($VTI)

One of them is up 100%+ and the other 80% + since that purchase.

It's definitely tech concentrated

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

I would never invest in target date retirement funds. Way too conservative.

For example Vanguard Retirement 2070 (retire in 44 years) has 8.61% of portfolio in bonds.

I don't think that's necessary...

And the expense ratio of 0.08% is higher compared to $VTI, $VOO, $BND, etc

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

want to hire my kids in my biz to pay less taxes"

Some steps to achieve that:

https://t.co/gxPHUij14X reasonable wages
2.track hours
3.entity type matters (corp vs partnership)
4.must actually pay the child
5.file paperwork (W-2, 1040, payroll)

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

If you put money in a 401k, please learn your vesting schedule

It basically means how long you have to stay with your company until the match is truly yours.

Money YOU put in is always yours.

You probably don't want to quit a job 5 days before you get vested

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

Amazon stock is up 54% in the last 5 years.

S&P 500 is up 70% in the last 5 years.

Just because a stock did really well in the past, doesn't mean it will continue doing so well in the future.

This is why I don't buy individual stocks. Index funds and chill

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

Beating the S&P 500 is not very difficult.

Beating the S&P 500 over 10 or 20 years consistently is very difficult.

Buying the market in accumulation stage (i personally like SVTI) is one of the best ways to invest for the 99.99% of people.

Simple and effective

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

In 1980s the highest tax rate was 50%. A decade before, it was almost 70%.

This is why it's important to diversify your retirement accounts.

Have a pre-tax 401k to lock in current rates, have a Roth IRA to protect against future tax rate uncertainty.

Both are important.

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

The hardest and most useful thing you can do in investing is absolutely nothing.

Invest your money in index fund ETFs and do nothing.

Just stay consistent with your investments. Hold.
Don't panic during drops.

This is how you build real wealth in the long run

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

You don't need to wait until 59½ to pull from your 401k..

Easy exception is Rule of 55:

If you leave your job in or after the year when you turn 55, you can pull without the 10% penalty, if partial withdrawals are allowed by your employer.

Or 72(t) plan can be great too!

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

The tax code has a marriage penalty.

For example:

37% tax bracket starts at $640k for single, but $768k married (not doubled like for most brackets)

SALT deduction is $40k single and married

NIIT threshold is $200k single but $250k married

We need an update..

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

This person bought 11 cars in 11 years

He probably took at least $100k in depreciation hits alone

Plus all the interest cost

Imagine just sticking with one car, paying it off and investing the rest...

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

How people in their 20s and 30s start "investing:

>buy meme coins
>invest in some penny stocks
>get into options gambling

They lose money or earn 0% in 1 year, and eventually realize it was all gambling.

Skip all that. Just buy ETFs from the start.

[The Money Cruncher, CPA Private @DanielleJayne98]

Rules to follow to be in the top 10% money wise:
-no individual stocks, just broad index fund ETFs
-t-bills for emergency funds
-get your 401(k) match
-pay off your credit cards every month
-max tax advantaged accounts (Roth IRA, HSA)

[The Money Cruncher, CPA @money_cruncher]

Open a new gmail as soon as you buy a house (123house@gmailcom)

Then save/forward every single receipt, invoice, quote etc to this email for all your home improvements:

- replacing an entire roof
- new flooring
- new hvac system
- building a new deck
- etc

These improvements raise your cost basis, and can lower capital gains tax when you sell your home

[The Money Cruncher, CPA @money_cruncher]

Trump accounts (§530A) are now live.

Here's everything you need to know about them (including how to open one step by step):

[The Money Cruncher, CPA @money_cruncher]

If you died tomorrow, would your family know how to access everything?

Banking, crypto, brokerages, your laptop...

Here's how to build your "When I Die" binder in under 10 minutes:

[The Money Cruncher, CPA @money_cruncher]

2 in 3 households own a home, yet most have no idea how homeownership taxes work.

If you own a home (or plan to), here are some tax tips that will save you thousands:

[The Money Cruncher, CPA @money_cruncher]

🚨BREAKING: a 5% wealth tax and a new stimulus check is proposed in Senate.

I reviewed all 154 pages of the new bill, so you don't have to.

Here are all the details:

[The Money Cruncher, CPA @money_cruncher]

If you own a home, you must track improvements to lower your taxes.

And 99% of people don't do it and overpay the IRS...

Here are all the details: