So you wanna be a Stay At-Home Dad (SAHD)?

Short answer: Don't do it, reconsider, read some liter-ature on the subject, you sure? Fvck it!

I became a SAHD when my spouse and I welcomed our first child in 2016. And because we are gluttons for punishment, we added a second child to the mix in 2019. Those two are who I playfully refer to as the co-chairs of the board. My spouse, who works a full-time white collar job, is affectionately the CEO and my direct supervisor. Me? I'm the Chief Operating Officer. The choice was simple for our family:

• My spouse had the more promising career path
• We had an ample emergency fund stashed away
• We both worked and lived together on one salary for years
• We both believed that one parent should stay at home with our child(ren)

Even if you have all those factors checked off, double-check, re-check and check some more before going down this path. Trust me on this one.

So what does my job look like you are probably wondering? Childcare. And more childcare. Cleaning. And more cleaning. Laundry. And more laundry (approximately half my time is spent sorting, washing, drying, folding or putting clothes away). Also anything else the CEO sees fit to throw my way. The pay is horrible. The hours are long. I am on call 24/7/366 (leap year!). There is no vacation time allocated. The company car is a minivan. But the rewards are PRICELESS. Oh yeah, the commute is great, I couldn't leave that one out.

But the real negatives of the job is the outside perception. For example, here are just a few of the terms that get thrown around about the person holding this job:

• Pimp 😎
• Lazy bastard 🛌
• Glorified babysitter 👶
• Lady of the house 👀 😠

And those are the "funny" ones told by understanding supporting friends and family in jest. I mean, there may be some subtle notes of jealousy in there but who really knows or cares. You are too busy worried about your toddler's inability to sit still for 2 seconds or if you remembered to sterilize that teething toy the baby has in their mouth this very second. In any case, those aren't the stuff that gets to you. It's the well meaning questions/comments you get from time to time:

• Are you on a sabbatical?
• Damn, so you just gave up?
• Is that it? What else do you do?
• What about your own personal goals, dreams, purpose?
• You should find a work from home job to fill the spare time.
• Isn't it selfish with you sitting at home while your spouse works?
• Aren't you putting all the pressure on your spouse to be the primary breadwinner?

Long story short, you are going to need very THICK skin if you want this job. There is no crying in SAHD. Wait, what am I saying?? There is LOTS AND LOTS of crying (just not for you) in SAHD. But there are resources that can help guide and support you IF you still think (are you NUTS??) this is the path you want to take. At the top of this list is The National At-Home Dad Network. Good luck and godspeed.

As for me, I wouldn't trade this job for the world, BEST. JOB. EVER!

Which 529 Plan should I choose?

If you have the basics down AND you filled all the prerequisite accounts already then you are ready to proceed.

Here are the top three 529 plans in MY opinion (highly-rated, low-cost and offer a good mix of age-based investment options as well as individual portfolios) when state income tax breaks are NOT taken into consideration:
1. New York's 529 College Saving Plan
2. Nevada (Vanguard) State Plan
3. Utah Educational Savings Plan

If your home state's plan does NOT offer state income tax benefits then the above 3 are probably sufficient for you to contrast and compare and find a PERFECT choice for YOU.

If however, your home state's plan DOES offer state income tax benefits then you should add it to the list of the above 3 and contrast and compare to find the PERFECT choice for YOU taking into account that there are state tax benefits to be had each year you make contributions to your state's plan.

Is a 529 Plan right for me?

Now that we have covered what a 529 Plan is let's address the natural concerns with a 529 looking out ~17 years from today:
1. Undergraduate college is free, my child got a full scholarship or my child has ZERO interest in going to college:

• I can use the money for myself, my spouse, move it to another child, move it to a family member (very loose rules here...basically I can move it from my child to HIS/HER: sibling, mother, father, aunt, uncle, child or first cousin). I can even do one of those semester-at-sea deals or study-abroad deals for myself and spouse.
• In the extreme worst case I pay the 10% penalty and pay federal/state taxes on the EARNINGS. And if you did your state's 529 plan and got the state income tax deduction on your contributions going in they may want that deduction back.

2. Now, is a 529 the right choice for ME? In other words, is this the best place to put my money?

• You know what they say on airlines right? Put the mask over your face before putting it over your child's face.
• Student loans are CHEAP. Personal loans are expensive. Better your child take out student loans than you eating welfare turkey out the can ~17 years from now.
• If you are like most folks today who waited to have children then the age 59.5 is much closer than you would want it to be. At that age, access to your 401K, IRA, and Roth IRA comes into play. Sooo, with that said...

3. Accounts to fill BEFORE you do a 529, IN descending ORDER:

• 401K up to employer match - FREE EFFING MONEY! Always take this first. If your employer matches your contributions up to X always contribute up to X. DUH!!!!! Pre-tax going in, tax-free growth, taxed (without penalty) coming out after you are 59.5 years old.
• HSA - I personally think this is the best account ever made. Pre-tax (even pre-payroll taxes) going in, tax-free growth while in, tax-free coming out for medical expenses. If you have a child then medical expenses come with the territory.
• Roth IRA - After-tax money going in, tax-free growth, and tax-free coming out after age 59.5.

What is a 529 Plan?

What is a 529 Plan?

• A tax-advantaged account where you can put after-tax money into and it grows tax-free. The money can then be withdrawn tax-free for higher education qualified expenses.
• Higher education is undergrad college and graduate school. It is NOT high school.
• Examples of higher education qualified expenses are tuition, room and board ON campus, COMPARABLE off-campus housing, REQUIRED books and supplies, computer, and internet access.
• Examples of *NON* higher education qualified expenses are clubs fees/dues, fraternity/sorority fees/dues, etc.
• Since the money you put in (your contributions) is AFTER-TAX you can withdraw your contributions (principal) at any time without PENALTY. You will owe taxes on a pro-rata basis however. Additionally, if you took a state tax deduction on your contributions going in then naturally that state may want that deduction back.
• If you withdraw the money for a NON higher education qualified expense you will pay a 10% penalty PLUS federal/state taxes on EARNINGS (the growth on your contributions).

The Basics of Financial Independence: Time

5. Time

• Time...it really is that simple. Once you have done 1-4 all you have to do is rebalance to your target allocation as needed. Time is ON YOUR SIDE. Time is YOUR BEST FRIEND. So what are you waiting for? GET STARTED! The sooner you get started the sooner you can sit back and let time be your best friend.

The Basics of Financial Independence: Total portfolio

4. Invest in a low-cost, tax-efficient, diversified, balanced index portfolio.

• You should view your portfolio in the TOTAL sense and not try to replicate your desired portfolio in each account. That is, you should pool ALL your assets (401K, IRA, Brokerage, etc) and view it as one TOTAL PORTFOLIO. This way you will best optimize for tax-eficiency, low-cost, and diversification. 
• Start with LOW-COST. Aim for all funds in your portfolio to have an expense ratio of below .20% ($20 for every $10,000 invested per year). As we now know, since it has been beaten into our heads, costs are VERY IMPORTANT and they COMPOUND.
• Your portfolio should be tax efficient. Ideally, you should have some tax-advantaged accounts such as a 401K (or equivalent such as 403b), a IRA (Traditional or Roth), 529, and/or an HSA. You should also have an account that is not tax-advantaged such as a brokerage account. Assets that are NOT tax-efficient such as bonds, REITs or ones that pay out unqualified dividends should be placed into your tax-advantaged accounts (401K, IRA, etc). Assets that are tax efficient such as the Total US Stock Market (S&P 500) should be held in your brokerage account.
• Your portfolio should be broadly diversified. That is your total portfolio should contain asset classes that do NOT correlate closely. For most individuals this can be solved by owning some US assets (Total US, S&P 500, etc), some International (Total Int'l, Developed Int'l, etc) and some fixed income (Total Bond, TIPs, etc).
• Your portfolio should be balanced based on YOUR own risk profile and YOUR own timeline. It should also be rebalanced when any asset class becomes more than 20% outside of its desired allocation. For MY personal portfolio (based on MY own risk profile AND MY own timeline) I am using 25% Total Bond, 25% Total US, 20% Total Int'l, 10% Emerging Markets, 10% Small Cap Blend, and 10% REITs. (And because I am keeping it tax-efficient the bonds and REITs are held in tax-advantaged accounts.) If any of my allocations become 20%+ more/less than its desired allocation I then take action to bring my portfolio back to my desired target allocation.

The Basics of Financial Independence: Maximize your savings rate

3. Maximize your savings rate.

• The first step is to find out your current spending rate. The usage of a free app such as Personal Capital may prove very helpful in this arena. Once you have all the data of where your money is going you should try to align it with your goals (travel, photography, etc). Spending that isn't aligned with your goals is where you should be doing your significant cuts (Ex: junk food when you are trying to get into shape). I have found that this review alone is usually sufficient to get folks on the path to success.
• Do not negate the savings achieved through discounts or cost cutting on ongoing items such as cellphone plans, cable bills, car insurance, childcare, commuting, etc. Some of these can be achieved via shopping around or via group affiliations (employer, alumni, professional organization, etc). Depending on your tax bracket and the state you reside in every dollar saved on these items can be as high as ~$1.50 in wages. As you can see, with some diligence this can translate into yearly savings of thousands of dollars in wages.
• Finding ways (side gigs, promotions, etc) to earn more money is just as important. Maybe that travel you love to do can turn into a travel blog that you can use to generate ad revenue. Maybe that job opening above you is something for which you should apply. The point is you are only bounded by your imagination when it comes to additional sources of income. For example, I know a few engineers who make a lot of side money in real estate investing (both rental income and house flipping).
• And last but not least get the most out of your employer via pension/401K contributions, HSA contributions, employee stock purchase plans that provide a built-in discount and tuition reimbursements for education/training that will improve your earning potential. This can be the most lucrative (Hint: some are tax FREE) and yet it is often the most overlooked.

Basics of Financial Independence: Paying off debts

2. Pay off any debts you have. Start with the highest interest debts and work down until all is paid off.

• The second thing one should do on the road to financial independence is pay off all high interest debt obligations. Of course that begs the question, "What is high?" For simplicity, let's define "high" as anything 1 point higher than the current 30-year fixed mortgage rate (currently 4% so "high" would be 5%+). I think that should be easy enough.

• Now that you have identified all your "high" interest debts, you should begin aggressively paying them off starting from the highest interest debt working downwards. Now of course you make minimum payments to all with the extra funds going towards the highest interest obligation until that is paid off, rinse-repeat. It also doesn't hurt to look into refinancing/consolidating these debt obligations under better rates when available. Often times a simple call can save mucho dinero.

• Now that you're left with NOT "high" interest debts, what should you do? You can ratchet down a notch or three on "aggressively paying them off" but you definitely want to pay MORE than the minimum required payments. Remember, this is the "basics of financial independence" not the "basics of getting rich via leverage." I know this can be a challenge for someone who has a car loan fixed at 2% and/or a mortgage fixed at 3.5% while the stock market (S&P 500) has double-digit returns over the last X years, but keep in mind there are also 1, 5, 10 and 15 year periods where even a 50/50 balanced portfolio has lost or made very little money (see chart below for 15 year real return periods). In conclusion, while your debt obligations are fixed who knows what the next X years of market returns will look like?

Basics of Financial Independence: Emergency Fund

1. Set aside 6-12 months of expenses in a savings account as a rainy day fund.

• The very first thing one should do on the road to financial independence is set aside an emergency fund. And the first step in this process is finding out your average monthly expenses. This can be accomplished the easy way by using an expense tracker such as Personal Capital or by manually adding them (housing, utilities, food, etc) up using pencil and paper. Either way, this step shouldn't prove that difficult.

• The next step would be to find a savings account that offers you some return on your money since the best case scenario is that this money will never be used. Deposit Accounts is a useful website that can assist you in finding a high interest bearing personal savings account that suits your needs. Personally, I am biased towards credit unions such as Alliant Credit Union but you are free to find one that best suits your individual needs.

• So is it 6 or 12 months of expenses? Personally, I recommend having 12 months of expenses set aside just because of the peace of mind it buys. For example, with only 6 months of expenses saved the average person will start panicking after 4 months of being unemployed. This can lead to rash decisions being made. One way to have the best of both worlds is to first set aside 6 months of expenses, complete the remaining 4 steps towards financial freedom, then circle back and increase the emergency fund to 12 months of expenses.

The Basics of Financial Independence

This list is actually in order starting with the most important item first:

1. Set aside 6-12 months of expenses in a savings account as a rainy day fund.
2. Pay off any debts you have. Start with the highest interest debts and work down until all is paid off.
3. Maximize your savings rate. I recommend starting with spending less since there you have the most control but finding ways (side gigs, promotions, etc) to earn more is just as important. Another angle on this is getting the most out of your employer via pension/401K contributions, tuition reimbursements for education/training that will improve your earning potential, corporate discounts on existing bills (cellphone plans, childcare, etc).
4. Invest in a low-cost (as low as humanly possible, aim for < 0.20%), tax-efficient (bonds in tax advantaged accounts such as IRAs/HSAs/401Ks), diversified (Total Bond, Total US, Total Int'l OR a Target Date fund to save all the stress), balanced (for your time horizon, 80-20 is a great starting point) index portfolio.
5. Time...let it marinate. The sooner you get done with #1 (you can weather storms), #2 (you are debt free), #3 (you have grown your earnings AND/OR lowered your expenses so you are investing more), and #4 (your investments are growing with very little headwinds from fees and taxes) the quicker you can be financially independent.

And the above list is such that if you just get the first 1, or first 2, or first 3 done, you are better off for it. Don't look at it as a all or none to prevent you from starting. Best of luck.

The power of a legacy...

If I had known this, there's a good chance I wouldn't have become a comedian. Until I lucked into a comedy club at age 20, just on a whim, I assumed I would pick up things for White people for the rest of my life. If I had known this, it would have taken away the inevitability that I was gonna be nothing.

- Chris Rock, upon learning that his great, great, grandfather fought in the Civil War and was elected to the South Carolina Legislature.

The quote above resonates deeply. More importantly it makes me wonder if my father knew something about his ancestry that instilled him with the confidence that he could achieve anything. He in turn, tried his very best to instill that confidence in me. To this very day, almost 14 years after his passing, I can only wonder if his confidence was based on something real or fabricated.

Strangely enough though, I have found peace in simply knowing that I exist today because all my direct ancestors going back to the beginning of time survived long enough to reproduce and actually did so. I was born a winner, I was born a winner.

mASS in de place!

I have now lived in mASS longer than ANY other place and it's about time I started showing it some love:

1. Spring-Summer-Fall. Who has a better stretch of 3 seasons? This year, our Summer has been averaging temperatures between the late 50s and mid 80s for the most part.

2. Professional sports teams. Over the last 10 years the Pats, Sox, Celts, and Bruins have all won at least 1 championship. Hell, the Pats currently have the longest championship drought in mASS. Think about that for a second.

3. Top tier in the country in K-12 school system.

4. Top 5 in the country for employment.

5. Top tier in the country for healthy residents and healthcare.

6. Top 5 in the country for educated citizens. Hell, I think it may actually be #1.

7. Top tier in the country for homes retaining value.

8. Every major airline including my fave JetBlue (now with seasonal non-stops to STT).

9. And last but definitely not least, even though her and I were both in attendance at friend's wedding in St. Louis, MO, the first time I ever laid eyes on my beautiful wife (yes, I married the ScriptKeeper) was on Newbury Street in Boston, mASS.

Getting in shape

The older I get the harder it is to get in shape. And not incrementally harder either, exponentially harder. So for the last 4 months I have been weight training, walking, jogging, and over the last 3 weeks I ran in THREE 5K races all in an attempt to get back to a reasonable shape (round not included).

Look, 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) is a lot harder than it sounds. Oh don't get me wrong, the pace you run is entirely up to you. My dilemma is that I started running with REAL RUNNERS. And trust me, there is a difference. For example, in the first race I started at the back of the 150+ runners and was basically jogging. Midway through the race I passed a few folks and started feeling real proud of myself. However, when the race was over and the results were published I was ashamed to find that I was in the bottom 25%, overall AND for my age group. And I did it in 29:11, DAMN!

So then, I started training just for the next 5K because I'm thinking I've been working out for roughly 3 months so I should be at worst average. Well, the following week I figured I would start at the very FRONT of the race. So, I go right to the front of the 150+ and the only thing in front of me is open road. Hey, I'm figuring that all I have to do is just maintain speed with the pack. Look, this was probably the most embarrasing thing to happen to me in recent memory. The funny thing is I drastically improved my time from 29:11 to 25:46. However, I have never been passed by so many people in my life. I mean, young boys passed me, young girls passed me, old men passed me, old ladies passed me, overweight young boys passed me, overweight young girls passed, and overweight old men passed me (I don't think their were any overweight old ladies in the race). But the point I want you to get is that 2 miles into the 3.1 miles I started getting tired and my brain started telling me to quit and I started listening. But then I saw this overweight old guy running by me and I tried to pick it up and I couldn't. I repeat, I COULDN'T. I repeat, I COULD NOT. At this stage I wondered, what is wrong with me and who are all these people blowing by me?

Then I figured it out. Those are the people I see running early in the morning while I am on my way to the Burger King drive thru to pick up my 2-for-$3 Croissandwiches. I also see them around lunch time running and wonder how is it that these people can get a run, shower, and lunch in 60 minutes when I can barely make it back from Chick-fil-A. I see them later in the evening as I drive home from knocking down a tequila and some nachos at On The Border. These are REAL RUNNERS. I have been going to the gym roughly 2-3 times a week since May and here I was expecting to hang with the REAL RUNNERS in a 5K. What the hell was I thinking?

So, I tell myself that all I have to do is train harder, which I did. Then the following Tuesday (race day) just happens to be the hottest day of the year. 7pm and the race is about to start yet it is 90 freaking degrees IN THE SHADE. I thought to myself, "Ok, I have trained for this and I will break 25 minutes this time." The race starts and within the first 5 minutes I realize that breathing in extremely HOT AIR doesn't bode well for my lungs. My brain started talking to me, "Hey Troy, is that lungs you just coughed up?" At this stage I realized I haven't even reached the 1 mile mark. I started thinking about my Sister's reply when I told her I ran a 5K. "Running is bad for your knees...walking is the best exercise", she said. Thoughts started entering my mind, "Man, she is a GENIUS...I shouldn't be running...I'm damaging my knees." Then I remember, bad knees never killed anyone that I know. Heart disease killed my Father, has a strong grip on many of my family members and is already starting to come after me. And so, I finished in 25:57 which was slightly more than my previous record. But more importantly, I didn't give up or give in.

Microsoft Communicator in the Workplace

So I'm sitting at my desk at work on the day of the Michael Jackson memorial and I get an instant message from the resident slacker at my job via Microsoft Communicator (basically Instant Messenger for the Workplace).

Slacker: Did you moonwalk to your office this morning?

Troy: Shh-mon!

Slacker: And did you start your day with a beat-it?

Troy: Ha! Nope, but I am gonna end it with a thriller.

Slacker: With Billie Jean?

Troy: Not my love...old news, she's out of my life for some time now.

Slacker: You can teach her the ABCs. I've heard they are easy as 1-2-3.

Troy: Or is it as easy as black or white?

Slacker: Sometimes you have to just look at the man in the mirror.

Troy: Whoa, where did that come from? You and your off the wall comments.

Slacker: Hey buddy, do you wanna be starting something?

Troy: Try as you wish, I'm unbreakable.

Slacker: Nah.. you are just a P.Y.T.

Troy: I don't know where you're going with that last comment but if there is a pretty young thing out there you should know the girl is mine.

Slacker: I'd like to jam with you on Communicator about MJ all afternoon but some of us gotta work.

Troy: Work? You? Ha! I want to be where you are...come in when I want, "work" from home when I want.
...
[Slacker is taking a long time to respond]
...
Troy: What? Have you resorted to googling songs now? What type of monkey business is this?

Slacker: You think you are a smooth criminal, but you're just a hater.

Troy: Dude, not only am I smooth, I am also dangerous.

Slacker: Say, say, say whatever you want.

Troy: Lots more to say...for instance, did I ever tell you I once dated Dirty Diana.

Slacker: Nope...I'm pretty sure you are still in the closet.

Troy: I'm so far removed from you and your "closet" that I'm a stranger in moscow.

Slacker: Who are you fooling? You are with Ben thinking about butterflies.

Troy: You've got the wrong guy. I'm with a beautiful girl.

Slacker: You are not alone with her, I'm with her too.

Troy: Hey, are you calling my girl a cheater?

Slacker: Her and I have been workin day and night until there is blood on the dance floor.

Troy: Blood?? Can someone say, "in the back?" But if that's your thing, may I suggest you don't stop until you get enough.

Slacker: It's my patented move. I call it the rockin robin.

Troy: Dude, I'm laughing so much I am speechless.

Slacker: Why don't you go ahead and cry then?

Troy: I haven't cried since childhood...I can't even remember the time?

Slacker: Hey tabloid junkie, enough of this crap, I gotta do some work.

Troy: Ha! You finally realized that you can't win huh?

Slacker: Dude, quit it. Someone just walked in my cube. This dialogue in the Communicator window looks bad.

Troy: Who is it?

Slacker: My boss. Had he seen this my ass would have been on the line. Okay, definitely quitting now.

Troy: Look at him and yell, "Leave me alone!"

Slacker: Dude, you're crazy. I want to spend one day in your life.

Troy: Hey, it's just another part of me.

Slacker: Are you sure its not just human nature?

Troy: Enough slacking, back to work. Time to heal the world one Liberian girl at a time.

Slacker: Dude you are a trip. One last song drop and I am done. Like all the great ones, gone too soon.

It's been a while

What can I say? Not even a good excuse for why I haven't blogged. OK, I have been hitting the gym but that isn't the reason. I have been living more in the real world and less in the virtual world but that still isn't the reason. Writer's block? Possible. Just straight up lazy and lacking any stick-with-it-ness? Highly probable.

Things I have been doing with myself since we last spoke:
1. Switched from Amex SimplyCash Business to Schwab Bank Invest First Visa which just gives a straight 2% back on everything into your Schwab Brokerage account and no foreign transaction fees.

2. Finished reading Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life by John Bogle and I highly recommend. Damn good book...made me want to be a better man.

3. Just started reading The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder and so far so good. You know, I just realized that these two books, based on the titles, are pretty much the same thing. Funny thing is I bought Enough for myself and knocked it out in like 2-3 days and upon seeing this the ScriptKeeper bought me Snowball and I'll go out on a limb and say it will take me a while to finish. The thing is HUGE.

4. Carnival hopping: Travelled to St. Thomas, VI for Carnival in late April. Will travel to Washington, DC for Carnival in late June. Yeah, yeah, I missed Atlanta's Carnival at the end of May. Hey, I can't make them all.

5. Finished up my classes for the Spring semester and registered for Relative Value of Securities in the Summer II session. I'm pass the halfway point towards that Masters of Science in Finance and boy don't I want to drop out right about now. :)

6. Removed myself from Facebook.com and hi5.com. I sort of felt like it was turning me into a voyeur (use definition #2, HA!) or something constantly checking up on folks (status updates, latest pictures, etc.). And that is not the kind of person I am or wanted to become. Plus the Movie Snob swears those things are evil and other than him being somewhat extreme we tend to have similar tastes.

7. Fell in love with Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola. I usually eat it with soy milk as a a cereal or just straight up as a snack. Who knew something this good for you could taste this good? I especially like the fact that it has generous amounts of 3 things I look for in my new GET-FIT-STAY-FIT diet: fatty acids, dietary fiber, and protein. Found it at my new favorite spot: Costco. Isn't that place just awesome?

8. I know this conflicts with my #6 but I have taken up Twitter or maybe I should say the TwitterFon app on the iPhone. See, I use it primarily to stay on top of NFL news. I follow Peter King (my favorite Sportswriter), Rich Eisen, Chris Mortensen (this guy tweets constantly), and Ross Tucker. Obviously, I just read the news updates these guys push out. And as you know, the NFL is one of my FAVORITE things.

9. Did I ever tell you that 9 is my favorite number? Well, it is.

Hitting HENRY hard

As a proud member of the Ways & Means Committee I was called in and instructed that my blog entry on HENRY was a slap in the face of my membership. As a result, here is my attempt to rectify the situation.

Here is how a single filer (HENRY) who makes above the $75K-phase-out-to-$95K-cutoff can still take advantage of the $8K tax credit for first time home buyers who buy a home between 1/1/09 and 12/1/09.

First off, LEGALLY shelter as much of your money from the IRS as possible:

1. Max out your 401K contributions - $16.5K (great time to buy)
2. Medical & Dental paycheck deductions - ~$1K (conservative guess of $1K for HENRYs)
3. Max out Health Savings Account contributions - $3K (NOT use-it-or-lose-it)

Total sheltered is $20.5K.

Second, in this economy you should be able to find the maximum amount of $3K in stock losses above any capital gains to apply towards income.

1. $3K in capital losses above capital gains applied towards income.

Total offset to income is $3K.

Grand total is $23.5K. Hence a HENRY who makes a salary all the way up to $98,499 (minus the $23.5K gives us $74,999) is still able to get the FULL tax credit and a HENRY who makes a salary all the way up to $118,499 (minus the $23.5K gives us $94,999) is still able to get a partial tax credit.

Of course, I am sure other ways to shelter money exist such as Flexible Spending Accounts (Medical Expense & Dependent Care) but these are the ones that quickly come to mind where you run no risk (use it or lose it) of losing the money you sheltered. Additionally, you may have other income such as interest and dividends so please consider your exact situation and account for ALL sources of income when performing these projections.

Tough economic times

Friday morning during a super-A$$ economy with annual shareholder meeting taking place in the coming week you wake up as normal to get ready for work. The phone rings. It's a co-worker who is actually off today because of the required 10 days off per fiscal quarter due to the economic downturn. They ask you if you are already at work and you say that you are on your way. They claim that they just read their emails and the head of the department just called a meeting with 5 minutes notice. You think, "WTF, that would mean 8:45am...most of the department, like ME, gets in between then and 9am." Then you start doing that layoff calculus in your head: Friday + Payday + Annual shareholder meeting next week + Early morning short notice meeting = HOLY SHITE!

So now you start contingency planning with regards to personal files you have stored on your company provided laptop most especially the ones for the $3400 class you are taking where you have all your homework including the case study due on Monday. "Shite, when was the last time I backed up to my USB disk?" "Double shite, fireburn school files what about my tuition reimbursement?" "Triple shite, I just booked that 7-day-Caribbean cruise?" "Sweet, my lease ends this month and I haven't renewed yet."

Then you get to work late missing the meeting and find out the meeting was just to give everyone in the department a heads up that layoffs are taking place throughout the company and for right now our department is safe. Meanwhile you are thinking if I was 10 years older and in worse health I may have had a heart attack to find out I am safe...for NOW.

Back at your desk, you don't even feel good about having survived another day since you are learning of folks you know in other departments that didn't make the cut. And let's face it, all the slack has long been gone. These are good-to-great workers who just find themselves on a project or in a business unit that either requires too much capital, not generating enough profits in the short term or both. Your sorrow for them fades when you start thinking that this is what it is going to be like every so often until the economy picks up. You tell yourself that it is best to move on from this paralyzing thought process since all it does is make you sit in fear. But while trying to move on and stay positive you can't help but wondering, "Am I currently in the on deck circle?"

Who is HENRY?

H-E-N-R-Y = High Earner Not Rich Yet

Well, it all depends on your definition of high earner because I would definitely not put myself anywhere near there. But in either case, this isn't about me. This is about all the folks who graduated from college with lots of student loans and a "high paying job." What exactly is a high paying job? If you ask the IRS that would be anything above $55K which is where they start phasing out single filers for deducting student loans. The hard cut-off is $70K.

So for example, you finish college after busting your rump for 4-5 years and now have $32K worth of student loans to show for it. But you're one of the lucky ones, you managed to find a job that is paying you $60K to start in the always-expensive-cost-of-living Northeast.

Funny thing though is that after hearing your whole life about student loan tax deductions you realize that at your salary level this doesn't amount to much. You don't worry about it though as you put your nose to the grindstone and try to be the best employee ever. Three years later due to well earned raises you cross the $70K cut-off limit. You think no-biggie since you never really got much back from that measly deduction anyway. However, it still is a painful reminder to get that letter from your loan provider pointing out how much you paid in interest the previous year. I mean, those bastards are just rubbing it in your face that you won't be able to deduct any of that interest paid.

Two years later, you start thinking about buying a home because it is the prudent thing to do and there are no income limits on the tax dedcutions for interest paid on your home. But in the Northeast, your 5 years of prudent savings doesn't even look like it could be 10% of the selling price of the homes. Yeah, even in this downturn. And you wanted to put 20% down because you heard of all the no-money-little-money down horror stories. But wait, what about that news clipping you saw that spoke about an interest free $7500 loan from the Gov now expanding to possibly a $7500 grant (via tax credit) and you think, "Cut me a slice of that pie!" So as a good citizen you go to their website and read the fine print which clearly states that earners above $75K are phased out until a hard cut-off at $95K. So, using your salary numbers you do the number crunching and then it hits you.

HENRY, he is I and I am him.

Redbox + iPhone = Obvious Winner

Every once in a while I have to throw someone a bone. And today I toss one out to Redbox who has been very good to me over the past 8 or so months. A Redbox app for the iPhone is so blatantly obvious I feel as if it has already been done but no one told me. Look, I will just walk you through one quick scenario where having a Redbox app on the iPhone is sheer geinus.

Redbox-Iphone App Scenario:
Monday morning and my plane lands in Ssacramento, CA and upon touching down I remember that I have to return two Redbox DVDs (The Rocker - 3 stars, Pineapple Express - 2 stars) that I have in my backpack which I picked up last night for the sole purpose of watching on the plane ($2 for 2 DVDs for 1 night) using my laptop. While I sit on the plane waiting to get off I open up my Redbox app with the 3G turned on and see that the nearest Redbox is less than 10 minutes away using the iPhone's GPS capabilities. I then hit the map it function which opens the iPhone's Maps application to get an understanding of the turn by turn directions I would need to get to that Redbox location from the airport. Hmmm, it's actually in the direction I am heading, SWEET! While in the app I see that the free 1-day rental Monday code is also posted which reminds me that I wanted to get The Secret Life Of Bees (hey, it's Black History Month). While still on the plane, I use my Redbox app to check to see if it is available at the location I already planned on visiting. It is, SCORE! I'm now being hustled off the plane so I pack my iPhone away and race to the rental car terminal forgetting to reserve my movie. Finally I arrive at the Redbox location and there are about 3 people in front of me. I overhear the couple in front of me saying that they hope that The Secret Life of Bees is still there. Instantly I pull out my iPhone and open the Redbox app and check to see if it is still available at this location. I see it is and since I already created and registered my account I am able to quickly hit the RESERVE button. My sincere apologies to the couple in front of me as I can't help but giggle when they get to kiosk and see that The Secret Life of Bees is gone. I return my two DVDs from the previous night and grab The Secret Life of Bees and head out to dinner with my Rancho Cordova compadres.

Hey yo Redbox, why is this not happening?

Troy at the Theater

Folks have been asking me to do movie reviews and some others have been emailing/texting asking if I have seen Slumdog Millionaire so I figured I would kill these and other related topics with one blog entry.

First off, I must have been singing the praises of Da Box way too much. Everytime I go to my local Redbox lately there is a line. All my Redbox using friends claim that there are lines at their local Redbox as well. A family member called me all the way from Dallas to tell me that Dallas-area folks must be reading my blog because the TWO Redbox kiosks at their grocery store has a line. So from now on, my message to you is: Redbox SUCKS!

Movie ratings are assigned by myself (regular guy), Movie Snob (indie-artsy perspective), and the ScriptKeeper (female perspective).

Slumdog Millionaire - Great movie set in India that shows the road traveled all the way to the game show, "Who wants to be a millionaire?" Had the ending not been so "Hollywood" it would have been a strong competitor for best movie of 2008. This is a great choice for the regular movie viewer who wants to baby-step their way into indie-artsy films in the future. Troy: 5 stars, Movie Snob: 4 stars, ScriptKeeper: LOVED IT!

Happy-Go-Lucky - Dark comedy that is definitely not for the average everyday movie viewer who just wants to be entertained. This is a great movie to see with folks where you then go out for drinks or coffee after. Definitely spurs one into taking a look within. Definitely the best movie of 2008 for the indie-artsy crowd. Troy: 5 stars, Movie Snob: unseen, ScriptKeeper: LOVED IT!

Nights in Rodanthe - OK, so the ScriptKeeper dragged me to see this "romance" movie. And surprisingly, even though the ending was somewhat predictable it was better than I thought. Troy: 3 stars, Movie Snob: UNSEEN & PROUD OF IT, ScriptKeeper: LOVED IT!

Tell No One - French foreign thriller that is my vote for the best movie of 2008. And I have to give props to the Movie Snob (for the 100th time before he calls yet again for referral credit) who recommended it to me. This is just a great movie in every way measurable. Keep in mind that this movie is in French so you will have to read subtitles. But trust me, you will not be disappointed. Troy: 5 stars, Movie Snob: 5 stars, ScriptKeeper: LOVED IT!

Gran Torino - Social drama with Clint Eastwood playing the part of a WWII veteran who is somewhat stuck in his old school ways. My first thought leaving the theater was that Clint Eastwood wins the oscar for best actor after this performance. I mean, he IS the movie. The funny thing is that even though the movie is a drama it was more like a comedy with racial and ethnic jokes serving as the subject material. Movie Snob claimed he was noticing that some folks were laughing a little too hard and too long at his theater down in JawJuh! :) Troy: 5 stars, Movie Snob: 5 stars, ScriptKeeper: LIKED IT!

PS: The ScriptKeeper would also like you to know that she LOVED Sex And The City.