We here at DQYDJ have recently been sharing some of our insights into our own personal finances – you can thank tax season for that. Recently, I covered our current asset allocation and Cameron his. Today, taxes in hand, I tallied up my savings rate for last year. In 2017, our net saving rate (dollar […]
Taxes
How Electronic Tax Returns Have Become the US Standard In the Last Generation – 1990-2013
The last week has seen quite a few articles lamenting the lack of funding at the IRS. That lack of funding might drive the IRS to multi-generational lows in terms of the number of audits it undertakes (or at least based on the percentage of returns) in the United States, and might (further) reduce staff […]
Are Tax-Advantaged Funds Actually Better For Your Taxable Account?
One of the more popular mutual fund styles are so-called tax-advantaged funds. Folks who are investing in accounts outside of their tax advantaged accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs often invest in these funds to try to reduce their tax burdens a bit. These funds are ostensibly managed with a department pouring over the tax […]
Riding the Market Weather
June 29th, 2006. It was an innocuous day as the stock market was booming in the post-9/11 recovery. The economy was torrid and the unemployment rate was 4.6% in the USA. That fall, I opened up my checking account with Charles Schwab with their floating-rate free checking account (with no minimums or ATM fees) was paying […]
A Visualization of IRS Collections Since 1960
On this page is a visualization of the sources for tax revenue collected by the IRS between fiscal years 1960-2013 in the United States. All data in the visualization comes from the IRS’s 2013 Data Book. Apologies to our cell phone readers – you should view this on a tablet, laptop, or desktop (or something […]
Your New 2013 Tax Rates
Well, glad that Fiscal Cliff thing is over. Seriously – we sweated a crisis that was created by politicians, that politicians are now happy they averted. Consider that! Dividend Cliff… Kind of Averted Since most of you readers are also avid investors (check out our stock picks for 2013, and our solid S&P 500 beating […]
(Actually Good) 2012 Year End Tax Tips
Reading personal finance web sites is always funny this time of year. The end of the year is filled with articles about how to save money on taxes in the current year… 2012. Unfortunately for those recycled articles (“ain’t nothing changed ‘cept the date!”) that isn’t such a great idea this next year. So here […]
Marginal Tax Rates Versus Effective Tax Rates
Have you ever seen an election season so dedicated to the intricacies of taxes? Mitt Romney must be glad he paid accountants to run the numbers, since just 4 years ago I seem to recalls number of issues with TurboTax. So yes, I’ve never heard this much ranting and raving about taxes, even though the last time a very rich person from Massachusetts ran for President there were many similarities. So, let’s talk a little bit about two different things – ‘Marginal’ rates and ‘Effective’ rates.
Which State Benefits the Most from the Mortgage Interest Deduction?
The last time we talked about the mortgage interest deduction, I shared with you a chart on the percentage of returns in each income group taking the mortgage interest deduction. Today let’s take it a step father and look at the mortgage interest deduction geographically.
Who Paid Income Taxes in 2009? The Generational Warfare Edition!
Been reading DQYDJ for a while? Good. You know that looking at data from a different angle yields very interesting insights.
Here’s one interesting thing: the federal income tax code benefits 18 to 35 year olds at the expense of 45 to 65 year olds. How do I figure? The IRS helpfully posted data for 2009 (links are xls files) on both the amount of income made by age group and the amount of Federal income taxes paid after credits. So, should the Silent Generation and Baby Boom Generation be mad at Generations X and Y? Partially! Read on.