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I used credit karma last year, will probably do it again this year. Schedule C, lots of deductions and interest and dividend income. Was easy enough. And free.

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Iā€™m still confused about what to do with my ConnectYourCare HSA. There is $980 in the cash HSA part, and $21,000 in the investment part. Switched jobs so now I have to pay a $4/mo fee since Iā€™m no longer an employee. My new job does not offer HDHP or HSA. What happens when the cash portion goes to $0 after all these fees? Do I have to keep selling the investments in order to pay the $4/mo fee?

Iā€™ve tried calling other HSA banks to see if I can transfer, but they all say that I have to have a HDHP in order to have an HSA with them.

Great questions. I say, either call them and ask, or spend down the $980 and see what happens.

I did call but the CSR had no idea what I was asking.

Iā€™m not surprised at all. My guess is that it will be treated like a checking account and just go negative every month. And the moment you need to spend the money and transfer from your investment account into the checking account, whatever negative amount was in there will be wiped out by the money you transferred. Only one way to find out though. Either spend down and find out right away, or never touch it and youā€™ll find out in 20 years and 5 months.

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Just make sure they donā€™t charge you extra fees if your cash account does go negative. If it does you will certainly want to sell some investments to supply the cash account.

That is the one unfortunate thing about HSAā€™s. If you no longer have an HDHP you canā€™t qualify to open a new account and you are locked in to your existing one. I think you should be able to open an HSA any time. Funding and distribution qualifications have always only been a regulatory responsibility of the IRS anyway.

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But Publication 969 says:

Archer MSAs and other HSAs.
You can roll over amounts from Archer MSAs and other HSAs into an HSA. You donā€™t have to be an eligible individual to make a rollover contribution from your existing HSA to a new HSA.

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I read over on Bogleheads that a lot of people opened HSAs at Fidelity and did a trustee-to-trustee transfer, no HDHP required. They have no fees and itā€™s free to invest in their funds. I have liquidated my account and sent in the paperowrk, Iā€™ll update you guys on how it goes. The obvious downside is time out of the market, Iā€™ve missed some gains already after just two days.

I now have 401k at Vanguard, Roth IRA and taxable account at Schwab, and HSA at Fidelity. Is it worth it to liquidate my Vanguard and Schwab accounts and transfer them to Fidelity? I hate having multiple accounts.

Only if they give you something for going through the trouble.

Youā€™re missing out on all the fun (and money) that a ton of us have with multiple accounts these days. I get the feeling, but like anything you donā€™t like, if you do it on purpose a few times and it wonā€™t even bother you anymore.

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We purchased our home (primary residence) in March 2017 and are in the process of selling it, will accept an offer soon. I know we have to pay capital gains tax if we live in it for less than 2 years, is that based on the closing date or date we sign the P&S or what? Should we stretch out the closing date to be safe?

The sale price will be about 32k more than what we paid, but after paying commission and fees it will be maybe 15k profit. Is this what will be taxed? We also put a good 25-30k into repairs/improvements so we really arenā€™t making anything, just happy to get our down payment and equity back. Can any of those costs offset the ā€œprofitā€ that will be taxed?

You can add improvement to the cost basis but not repair.

Closing date.

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You should be fine. As long as you can document the cost of the improvements.

I am contributing to 401k with my company plan. Spouse is not doing any 401k contribution as there is no match from employer. Wondering if it is good idea to do 401k contributions without any match. Not sure if we can quality for IRA contribution? Is it good idea to do roth IRA.Some one suggested me some back good roth IRA. Looking for some suggestions. When I left my previous employer, I rolled over my 401k into IRA. Spouse has her own IRA account.

Thanks

Does the 401k offer Roth contribution options? One of the benefits of a Roth IRA is that there are no RMDs. Often, people assume that their tax bracket will decrease in retirement. Many people have found that several decades of stock market gains put them in a higher tax bracket, which certainly isnā€™t the worse problem to have.

As far as income/contribution limits, here is a link with that info:

https://thefinancebuff.com/401k-403b-ira-contribution-limits.html

Commonly posted advice suggests contributing to a 401k up to the company match first, then funding IRAs/Roth IRAs/HSAs, then contributing more to the 401k up to the limits, if affordable. Without a company match, contributing to a 401k wouldnā€™t be my first choice, unless youā€™re looking for potentially increased asset protection (depends on your stateā€™s laws).

Question: If you spouse changes gender, can he/she have two IRAs? :laughing::wink::rofl:

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Hi,
Can we still contribute to 2018 IRA? Spouse doesnā€™t have 401k plan. Not contributing to company 401k plan. What is the total income limit and quick way to check if we can contribute.

Thanks

Assuming YOU are covered by a retirement plan at work and she isnā€™t, this is what is applicable for her:

If your MAGI is $193,000 or less, she can take a full deduction up to the amount of her contribution limit.
If your MAGI is more than $193,000 but less than $203,000 she can take a partial deduction.
If your MAGI is $203,000 or more, you get no deduction.

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Thanks for the update. i am going to put in out numbers in online software and see what is our MAGI.
I think our total income (sum of income mentioned in BOX1 + interest ) is less than 180K. We are good to make $5500 IRA contribution right?

Thereā€™s no income limit for Traditional IRA contributions, so you can contribute the full $5500. Your ability to deduct all or part of that $5500 contribution depends on your MAGI as meed18 pointed out.

Better hurry, contribution deadline is Monday, 4/15.

I would like to contribute only if we can deduct our contribution. Total taxable amount (sum of box1 income + internet +) is less than 180k. I think we should be good to contribue $5500 and get a deduction also right?