I started blogging at OchoSinCoche.com in Fall 2019 during an extended, 12-week family trip to Spain. During the previous three years, I’ve learned a ton. I’ve also come to the conclusion that it’s time for some change. But first, what have I learned? Writing Brings Clarity My blog gives me an outlet for exploring personal… Continue reading The Future of the Blog
The last few months have been hectic and I haven’t had as much time to blog as I’ve wanted. I filed my 2021 taxes in April, but writing a blog post about it took a back seat to finishing my book on 529s. While it’s a few months late, I felt like it was still… Continue reading Taxes – 2021 Edition
Imagine a student with a full tuition scholarship and enough grants and private scholarships to cover 100% of room and board expenses. You might think that a 529 can’t help this student or their parents. You’d be wrong. Take a taxpayer who is a resident of New Mexico. Their federal AGI is between $96,000 and… Continue reading Can a 529 Help Someone With a Full-Tuition Scholarship?
529s aren’t only for families with young children that have years of compounding ahead of them. A last-minute 529 contribution can save families thousands of dollars, even if they haven’t been able to save anything for college by the time their freshman heads off to college. The Key to Last-Minute Savings: State Tax Benefits The… Continue reading Last-minute 529 Contributions Can Save Thousands of Dollars
Virginia529’s latest promotion is a free unit contribution (roughly $140) to a new or existing Tuition Track Portfolio when you add five units (roughly $700) by June 30, 2022. Unlike the April promotion, either the beneficiary or the account owner must be a Virginia resident to buy Tuition Track units, . Is The Offer Worth It? A few… Continue reading Virginia529’s Tuition Track Giveaway (June 2022)
I’m done! My book, The 529 Handbook: Maximize Your College Savings is now available at Amazon in both Kindle and paperback formats. Huge thanks to my alpha and beta readers, my copy editor, and the cover designer. It was a bit of a rush at the end to get it out by 5/29 and I… Continue reading The 529 Handbook: Maximize Your College Savings
I’m in the final process of my book, “The 529 Handbook”. Vote for the cover(s) you like the most. Feel free to add comments telling me why you liked/disliked a particular cover: https://99designs.com/contests/poll/f1a5a0824e
A couple of weeks ago, Virginia529 started giving away $25 to anyone opening a new account. The offer expires this Friday, April 30th, or whenever enough people have signed up for it. My wife and I created new accounts for each of our six children, as well as for each other, netting $350 in free… Continue reading Jumpstart 529 Savings with a Free $25 Giveaway
One of the joys of being a parent is teaching my six children about their needy Uncle Sam. This year, I helped four of them file taxes, two of them for the first time. We used a variety of methods to file their taxes and had some good discussions along the way. Número Uno Our… Continue reading Child Tax Returns – 2021
It’s tax season at the OchoSinCoche household. As I started digging into my tax return for 2021, I quickly came to the realization that I had made a significant mistake with my backdoor Roth IRA contribution in 2021. Instead of making a non-taxable conversion, I had unexpected triggered a Roth conversion that was 96% taxable.… Continue reading Botching the Backdoor Roth IRA
