Messages

376

Travel hacking / Re: How to hack rental cars in Europe?

« on: April 12, 2018, 08:14:16 PM »

Sounds like a great trip.

I've always paid cash for the rental cars because point valuation was never so good; using the Alaska/Delta points for flights will often get better $/pt.

Last year in Europe we rented 5 or 6 cars with fairly good daily rates. The key was looking at 1-way fees and cross-country fees. For example, driving from Austria to Italy caused the price of the rental car to triple, so we returned car1 in Innsbruck, took the train to Bolzano, and then picked up car2.

377

Taxes / Re: I heard TW has no cap-gain taxes on stocks

« on: April 10, 2018, 07:00:49 PM »

I haven't looked at moving assets to Taiwan so don't know anything about options/restrictions/opportunities, sorry

378

Taxes / Re: Moving back to the US after claiming FEIE for years

« on: April 10, 2018, 06:59:32 PM »

Yes

379

General Discussion / Re: retirement planning spreadsheets

« on: April 09, 2018, 12:45:19 AM »

Not a spreadsheet, but cfiresim is a great resource for retirement planning

www.cfiresim.com

380

Expat life / Re: Traveling Mailbox?

« on: April 08, 2018, 07:43:51 PM »

We use a friend's house as a physical address. Note that zero mail is actually sent there.

Another issue I've seen pop up is some brokerages are shutting down accounts as apparently it's illegal to own mutual funds if you live overseas.   I feel like America is trying to keep it's citizens trapped inside.

This is wrong. It's not illegal to own mutual funds, and you can buy ETFs without issue. (the site you linked isn't one I would read again)

381

Expat life / Re: Traveling Mailbox?

« on: April 06, 2018, 08:28:58 AM »

Hi Shane

You still need a physical address. A bank, DMV, credit card issuer, etc... all need it.

You would give everybody your physical address and mailing address, and they would send all of your mail to the latter.

None of the brokerages/banks/CC companies have only the TM address, but they do send 100% of the mail there. Which is limited, because we have everything configured for electronic delivery.

In short, we are 100% switched over to TM and have had no issues with it.

382

Taxes / Re: Thanks GCC

« on: March 27, 2018, 07:27:24 PM »

Awesome! Glad you were able to reduce your tax burden

As an employee options are limited, and it sounds like you are already taking advantage of all of them.

You are contributing to tax deductible retirement accounts which is the biggest benefit. Sounds like an HSA isn't right for you since you have the $5k in medical expenses.

383

Travel hacking / Re: Delta miles

« on: March 27, 2018, 07:20:58 PM »

Amex Membership Rewards points can be transferred 1:1 to Delta with a small fee (I think $60 on 100k points.)

You can get both the regular and business versions of each card.

Also, Airbnb has a partnership with Delta.

384

Early Retirement / Re: serious conversation concerning early retirement

« on: March 20, 2018, 11:12:02 PM »

Hi AltSwiss, welcome. Yessir, this is what the forum is for.

I also have a small side consulting business.

385

Other / Re: College Savings Plan

« on: March 18, 2018, 07:09:34 PM »

Hi Judy

Take a look at this post:
https://www.gocurrycracker.com/why-gccjr-has-no-529/

We just mentally have some $ in our normal investment accounts set aside for potential college expenses. So we didn't do anything special other than just save more. Since it is just a part of our portfolio, it has the same allocation.

Cheers

Jeremy

386

Early Retirement / Re: Roth rollover

« on: March 16, 2018, 08:26:13 AM »

There is no magic bullet

Ways to eliminate the MAGI impact on the cost of health insurance:
Starting in 2019 there is no individual mandate with the ACA, so in theory you can buy an HDHP again.
At age 65 you qualify for Medicare, so no MAGI dependency there either.
You could move overseas for a time.
If you qualify, you could join a health care sharing ministry.

RMDs aren't such a big deal right away... starting at about ~4% at age 70.5, hitting 5% at age 80, and then ramping up thereafter. All Medicare years. Average life expectancy is ~80

387

Early Retirement / Re: Roth rollover

« on: March 15, 2018, 02:15:28 AM »

Do it piecemeal over 40 years?

This might be an example
https://www.gocurrycracker.com/gcc-vs-rmd/

388

Taxes / Re: Moving back to the US after claiming FEIE for years

« on: March 07, 2018, 04:38:23 AM »

Hi Hank, welcome

You don't have to write a letter.

You can claim the FEIE when you leave again. The letter and blackout periods are only if you qualify for the FEIE but choose not to use it.

You can use the FTC.

That's my understanding anyway

Cheers

Jeremy

389

Expat life / Re: Chiang Mai - Tips

« on: March 07, 2018, 04:35:29 AM »

Hey Tom

Here is a link to where we stayed:
https://www.gocurrycracker.com/our-375-a-month-apartment-in-chiang-mai-thailand/

This is a site I used for figuring out some visa stuff:
https://www.tielandtothailand.com/

I think best time of year for north Thailand is Oct - Feb, or whenever they start burning all of the fields

CM is great, we stayed there 2 months and had a great time. It's a good place to meet a lot of expats / digital nomads / early retirees

Cheers

Jeremy

390

General Discussion / Re: Thanks for making the forum!

« on: March 04, 2018, 02:21:43 AM »

I found GCC about a year ago after I plowed through MMM and getting into an ER mindset. It's really hard getting started but I think I'll get there eventually.
I think my biggest hurdle is trying to get a higher income while being the average person. I got my degree in criminal justice (terrible move, I know) and I'm not specialized in anything so I'm kind of stuck in this position where I don't know what to do and right now I'm an entry-level office worker with no room to climb up.

Anyway! You and Winnie are a huge inspiration and I hope to hear more about your travels

Hi Jan, thank you kindly 

Side hustles can be a good way to get started, but many of them are still trading hours for dollars. That's good if you can make hundreds per hour, not so good if you can only make minimum wage.

But, $100 can mean a lot at the beginning. That can come in part from side hustles and in part from cutting expenses. Then long term the ideal is to have something that pays you even while you sleep. So you might trade hours for dollars to build up a cash reserve, which you then turn into an income stream (somehow.) The exception is if your side hustle is building a business.

For some ideas of side hustles, take a look at these 2 sites:
https://www.sidehustlenation.com/
http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/ways-to-make-money/ (interesting list of not-so-common ideas)

The ROI on going back to school is more complex, I think, as it can be great if you are planning on a career... less so, if you want financial independence in the short term.

Hopefully that helps a bit. Just remember people have "made it" from all different income levels and via many different approaches. Good luck!