5 My dad started taking social security at 67 while still working part time as a consultant. His big mistake was not realizing how it would affect his tax bracket! He ended up in a higher bracket and actually netted less overall than if he'd waited till 70 when he fully retired. Sometimes the extra SS income can actually hurt you financially if you're not careful.

One thing I'd add to this great discussion - don't forget to consider the "do-over" rule if you change your mind. If you start collecting Social Security and later decide it wasn't the right choice, you have 12 months from your first benefit payment to withdraw your application and pay back everything you received (without interest). This essentially gives you a one-time reset. Also, if you're married, coordinate your claiming strategy with your spouse! The timing of when each spouse claims can significantly impact survivor benefits. Sometimes it makes sense for the higher earner to delay while the lower earner claims early, or vice versa. Given that you're an accountant, you probably already know this, but make sure you're factoring in the time value of money when comparing scenarios. A dollar today is worth more than a dollar in three years, so even though delaying increases your monthly benefit, the total lifetime value calculation can be tricky depending on your investment returns and life expectancy assumptions.

WARNING: You need to be super careful with your US brokerage accounts! Many US financial institutions will FREEZE or even CLOSE your accounts when they find out you have a foreign address. I moved to Australia and lost access to my Vanguard account until I could provide a US address (ended up using my parents'). Also, don't forget about PFIC rules if you invest in non-US mutual funds or ETFs in New Zealand - the tax treatment is BRUTAL. Stick with US-based investments through your existing accounts if possible.

Great question! I went through something similar when I moved to the UK a few years ago. A couple of additional points that might help: For your 401(k), you'll want to check if your employer's plan allows contributions while you're on international assignment. Some plans restrict this, but since you mentioned they have Auckland offices, they likely have experience with expat employees. Also consider that if you become an NZ tax resident, your 401(k) growth might be taxable in NZ even if it's tax-deferred in the US - definitely something to discuss with a tax advisor familiar with both systems. Regarding your rental property breaking even - don't forget about depreciation! Even if your cash flow is neutral, you can still claim depreciation on the property which often creates a tax loss on paper. This can be valuable for offsetting other income. One more tip: start keeping detailed records of everything NOW. Track your days in each country (for the physical presence test), keep receipts for moving expenses, and document your ties to NZ vs the US. The IRS loves documentation, and good records will save you headaches later. Also consider opening an account with a US bank that's expat-friendly (like Schwab International) before you move. It's much easier to establish these relationships while you still have a US address.

This is really helpful information everyone! I've been dealing with a similar situation with my adult kids - I send them money for textbooks, groceries, etc. and they pay me back for things like car insurance. Probably $400-500/month back and forth. Based on what everyone's shared, it sounds like I don't need to worry for 2024 taxes since the threshold is still $20k AND 200 transactions. But I'm definitely going to start keeping better records just in case. The screenshot idea is brilliant - I usually just send money with a pizza emoji or whatever, but adding actual descriptions makes way more sense. One question though - if these payment apps are making so many mistakes with the 1099-Ks, shouldn't there be some kind of penalty for them when they report personal transfers as income? Seems like they're creating a lot of unnecessary work for taxpayers and the IRS.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in a similar boat with my spouse - we probably send $600-800/month between our accounts for bills, groceries, date nights, etc. I've been losing sleep over whether we'd get hit with a massive 1099-K. The clarification about the delayed threshold is huge relief. $20k AND 200 transactions means we're nowhere close for 2024 taxes. But I'm definitely taking everyone's advice about better documentation moving forward. One thing I'm curious about - has anyone actually contacted Meta/Facebook directly about how they're handling the categorization? Their customer service is notoriously terrible, but I'm wondering if there's a way to proactively mark transfers as personal/family payments to avoid issues when the $600 threshold does eventually kick in. Also really appreciate the tools people have shared (taxr.ai and claimyr.com). Even though I might not need them this year, it's good to know they exist for when these rules actually take effect.

Make sure u kno that not all school expenses count for the tax credit!! i learned this hard way when my fancy graphing calculator wasnt a qualified expense even tho it was required for my math class. also check if ur school has a financial aid office cuz mine helped me understand my 1098-T and even helped me fill out the forms i needed!!!!!

I went through this exact same situation last year! Don't beat yourself up about it - you're definitely not alone in missing these credits initially. The good news is that you can absolutely recover those missed benefits. Here's what I learned from my experience: First, gather all your 1098-T forms from each year. You'll also want to collect receipts for any required course materials, lab fees, and other qualified expenses that might not be on the 1098-T but still count toward your credits. The American Opportunity Tax Credit is usually your best bet if you're an undergraduate student enrolled at least half-time - it's worth up to $2,500 per year and part of it is refundable, meaning you can get money back even if you don't owe taxes. You can claim this for up to 4 years of undergraduate education. One tip that saved me time: before filing amendments, use the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant tool online to make sure you qualify for the credits and understand the income limits. This helped me avoid mistakes on my amended returns. The amendment process took about 2-3 months to get my refunds, but it was totally worth it. I ended up getting back over $4,000 across three years! Just make sure to mail your 1040X forms to the correct IRS processing center for your state.

Has anyone actually calculated what the reduced per diem would be if certain meals were provided? Like is there an official breakdown for how much of the daily rate is allocated to breakfast vs lunch vs dinner?

This is exactly the situation I was in last year! I was a 1099 contractor on a 6-month assignment about 400 miles from home. The key thing to remember is that the IRS doesn't care about the total dollar amount - they care about whether your assignment meets the "temporary" criteria (under one year) and whether you're truly away from your tax home. I claimed the full per diem for the entire period and had no issues. The amount does seem high when you calculate it out, but that's just the reality of extended business travel. Make sure you keep detailed records of your assignment dates, the temporary nature of the work, and your tax home location. For the cafeteria situation, I had something similar - free lunch was provided but I had to pay for breakfast and dinner. I calculated partial per diem using the standard breakdown (breakfast 20%, lunch 30%, dinner 50%) and only claimed 70% of the daily rate. Keep good documentation showing which meals were provided versus which you paid for yourself. One tip: consider keeping receipts for a few meals even though you're using per diem. It can help demonstrate that you were actually incurring meal expenses during your assignment if questions ever come up.