Bob Brinker Free Discussion Site 59,820+

Top 879. Dec 27, 2005 6:29 PM

» bbaddict - Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider TAXES!

In response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider TAXES! posted by Happy_2:

Of course one obvious thing to mention is that if a contribution is made by one's employer, than of course it is not subject to FICA. However, it is also not deductible by the employee. The biggest benefit of making a regular IRA contribution is that you can deduct it from your total income.

If the employer pays it into your account, and you don't have to pay any taxes on it, then it is the ultimate deduction. You don't get to "deduct" it because that income doesn't show up on your W-2 (in the income box). You don't even have to account for it; it has already been "deducted" for you.

My corporation funds my SEP-IRA, pre-tax, pre-FICA. That is a great deal. An employee above the Social Security limit only saves the Medicare portion, but someone below that limit also saves the Social Security amount, which is large.

What about the employer's matching contribution for a 401K? I've never had one, so not sure. Does it show up on the W-2? Is it subject to FICA?

-- posted by bbaddict

Top 880. Dec 27, 2005 6:29 PM

» bbaddict - Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider TAXES!

In response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider TAXES! posted by Happy_2:

What about the employer's matching contribution for a 401K? I've never had one, so not sure. Does it show up on the W-2? Is it subject to FICA?

-- posted by bbaddict

Top 881. Dec 27, 2005 9:15 PM

» Happy_2 - Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider TAXES!

In response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider TAXES! posted by bbaddict:

"What about the employer's matching contribution for a 401K? I've never had one, so not sure. Does it show up on the W-2? Is it subject to FICA?"

The employer's matching contribution does not show up on the employees FICA income. It is not subject to FICA.

I think as a practical matter taxpayers who set up their own corporations, like you, are usually making far in excess of the 90K income that would limit their FICA contributions in any event. Therefore, as you say, they would only be saving the medicare contribution.

As I said in the post above:

"Kirk, it did occur to me that when I did pay myself a salary from my own corporation, I did do a pension fund contribution up to 25% of my salary. This was a defined contribution plan. This money contributed by the corporation did reduce my total income without incurring FICA tax.
That is one reason I did it".

One other comment, if your corporation had other employees, you would have to offer them a retirement plan like your own. You have to avoid a top heavy pension plan.

-- posted by Happy_2

http://www.purejazz.com/quotes.php?symbo...

Top 882. Dec 28, 2005 9:12 AM

» bbaddict - Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider TAXES

In response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider TAXES! posted by Happy_2:

Thanks, Happy. I don't want to beat this to death, but this is all good info.

If you own your own corporation and pay into a pension (eg SEP-IRA) for yourself, the contribution goes in pre-tax and pre FICA. If you own the corporation, then you are saving on BOTH sides of the FICA (employer and employee). Even if you are above the $90k per year, you are still getting the bonus of 2.9% (nothing to sneeze at) Medicare tax savings. Below $90k, you get BOTH sides of the Social Security tax as well (12.4%, a BIG savings!) Combined, that is a 15.3% bonus from the Federal Govt on the initial contribution, and a no-brainer.

On a new topic, does anyone know where I can get a live data feed (like Yahoo Finance's CSV) for Options volume? I'd bet I could subscribe to some CBOE program, but free is better. I'd like to monitor the S&P Put/Call ratio.

This is VERY crude, but if you want to see what I'm doing, have a look. So far, I have a real-time stock quote for the stock or index of your choice, and the "S&P real value" analysis like the Yardeni graph Kirk posted last week. Would like to monitor other key indicators:

{change symbol=xxx to the stock of your choice}

You can change the 2006 estimated earnings to a number of your choice to get a fresh analysis. Simply add "&SPfwd=xx" to the end of the address. I am using Bob's current $79 as default.

Again, it's very crude. I threw it up as a test. If you have any feedback, especially indicators you'd like to see monitored, let me know.

I like the analysis in E/P instead of P/E. It really forces you to think about the comparison to bonds and risk.

-- posted by bbaddict

Top 883. Dec 29, 2005 7:41 AM

» cpa61 - Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider T

What does the 10 day put/call ratio say
ex .75 vs 1.1
Thanks

-- posted by cpa61

Top 884. Dec 29, 2005 7:46 AM

» bbaddict - Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consid

In response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Asset Allocation: Consider T posted by cpa61:

Do you mean the 10 day moving average? It is listed to the right of the latest figure (currently .808).

I am not a big fan of the moving average. It is a nice tool for smoothing out the noise, but is more just a "poor man's calculus" as far as analysis goes. I am thinking of doing a "weighted" average.

-- posted by bbaddict

Top 885. Dec 29, 2005 7:53 AM

» bbaddict - Live analysis tools

{Changing the subject line...}

I have added the Put/Call ratio, and will add the Relative Strength tonight when I get a chance. Then, would like to add Money Supply, Consumer sentiment, CPI/PPI, Fed trend, employment, and whatever else seems pertinent to a market forecast.

-- posted by bbaddict

Top 886. Dec 31, 2005 9:18 PM

» capran - Have a happy and prosperous 06 to all "market timers"

Well, certainly alot of chatter on the airwaves about what the new year will bring. Will we get up to 1350, or get a bit of a pull back? It will be a challenge to see if I can continue gain on the market. I did my year end totals. On the self directed retirement account which I reserve for market timing: 14.28%YTD. On the fixed imcome, which I have reserved soley for my state deferred account (and my main on-going new monthly contributions: (5.1%). For my misc old IRA/403b accounts in Mutual Funds, which I have made no transactions except one buy for Roth money: 10% Overall, when combining all three totals, up only up 10.1% for the whole year (excluding contributions).

I am entering the year with the self directed entirely in a money market. The lower the indexes go, the more shares I will buy, but I'm leaning on setting out a few more weeks to see which way the wind blows.

Happy new year.

-- posted by capran

Top 887. Jan 1, 2006 2:25 PM

» jbking - Links on BB's site...

Am I alone in noticing that Bob's site doesn't link to a few places that it should? Those that fill in for him have their sites and they should be on Bob's list of links I'd think like Larry Kudlow and Terry Savage among others. This isn't that hard to do, is it?

Secondly, given Bob's love of his recommended reading list, why doesn't he list William Bernstein's excellent site, "Efficient Frontier," which is at http://www.efficientfrontier.com and is very educational? Do Bob's followers not want to learn about a lot of good free stuff that Dr. Bernstein has put up over the years?

Last but not least, over on Kudlow's site, there is a list of links that doesn't include Bob's site. I wonder if this is a quid pro quo thing where "If you don't link me, I don't link you," may be going on.

Regards,
JB

-- posted by jbking