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Suspicious Discontinuities

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Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#281

Post by junar »

PhantomGremlin wrote: post #148
junar wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't necessarily do it last minute. You have to realize the loss by the end of the tax year (Dec 31), which may be months away from the day you file taxes. On the other hand, if you can deduct traditional IRA contributions, you can make prior-year contributions up until the tax filing deadline, and keep your money. If you're eligible for an HSA or solo 401k, you can also use those to similar effect.

The devil is in the details. (When isn't it?) For example, regarding health insurance subsidies (mentioned in the article), deductible IRA contributions must be added back when calculating your income. As are other sources of income. E.g. tax-exempt municipal bond income doesn't count for Federal taxes but it does count for income limits for the health care subsidy. Offhand, I'm not familiar with income limits for an…

> deductible IRA contributions must be added back when calculating your income

Not true. IRA/401k/HSA reduce MAGI for healthcare purposes. Do not confuse MAGI for the healthcare marketplace with MAGI on your tax return; those are two different figures.

https://www.healthcare.gov/income-and-household-information/...

https://www.healthcare.gov/reporting-deductions/

Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#282

Post by bemmu »

Our post office has a shipping discount, where you get 10% off all of your shipments you've sent during the month if you send 1000 packages or more. Once you get near this limit, you get into the perverse situation where it makes sense to send empty packages to nowhere.

Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#283

Post by birdyrooster »

gowld wrote: post #68
birdyrooster wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Not to mention short people may have opted out of dating because they lack a perceived fitness for dating.

Or tall people opt out of OKCupid because they can date offline.

Or since it's so easy for tall people to date offline, they choose OKCupid because it's even easier due to the asynchronous model and network effect. They get more out of the algorithms than shorter people since more people are attracted to them.

Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#284

Post by apta »

streb-lo wrote: post #278
apta wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're two very different things. Flight is obviously possible because the inherent laws of physics allow it, and we observed other creatures do it. How are you going to take a grown man, whose physical traits are obviously different from a woman (broader shoulders, taller, more muscle mass, deep voice, not to mention his reproductive system, and other documented differences in other organs), and turn him into a wom…

> How are you going to take a grown man, whose physical traits are obviously different from a woman (broader shoulders, taller, more muscle mass, deep voice, not to mention his reproductive system, and other documented differences in other organs), and turn him into a woman? This is physically impossible and is akin to changing a banana into a fly. Well, the spectrum of bone sizes / muscle mass do have crossovers bet…

> Obviously you're not going to turn a 6'5'' 300lb man into a believable woman

So now there's a notion of "believable" and "unbelievable" changing of men into women? That kind of completely brings down this entire house of cards now doesn't it?

Think of it from another way. If there's an earthquake and a man pretending to be a woman dies in the rubble, and they discover his remains 50 years from now, do you honestly think that they'll classify him as female? His skeletal structure is masculine, and no amount of pretending or hormones or surgery is going to change it.

Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#285

Post by apta »

DavidVoid wrote: post #279
apta wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're two very different things. Flight is obviously possible because the inherent laws of physics allow it, and we observed other creatures do it. How are you going to take a grown man, whose physical traits are obviously different from a woman (broader shoulders, taller, more muscle mass, deep voice, not to mention his reproductive system, and other documented differences in other organs), and turn him into a wom…

> And physics and biology would still disagree with you. This warping of reality to fit some unscientific narrative is getting out of hand. You seem to be completely ignoring the generally agreed-upon scientific consensus that gender and sex are not equivalent; sex is biology, and gender is mostly performance. A transwoman is a woman (gender) even though they're biologically male (sex).

The agreed upon science is that gender dysphoria is a mental issue. No more than a man thinking that he's a dog, he'd be classified as insane.

There can be studies into why some people have this condition, perhaps it could be due to environmental or upbringing reasons, but the solution is not to expect others to dissociate from reality and pretend that that person is the sex he "wants to identify with". It's no different from asking others to treat that person like a dog if he feels like it.

Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#286

Post by scott_w »

evanpw wrote: post #173
scott_w wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t remember the exact benefit numbers (they might overlap with National Insurance) but you don’t pay income tax until you’re earning over £11,000 so you shouldn’t pay marginal tax while on benefits.

Losing benefits as you make more money has the same effect as being taxed on that marginal income.

I don’t dispute that at all, I’m just saying the marginal tax brackets themselves don’t kick in until later.

Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#287

Post by PhantomGremlin »

junar wrote: post #281
PhantomGremlin wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The devil is in the details. (When isn't it?) For example, regarding health insurance subsidies (mentioned in the article), deductible IRA contributions must be added back when calculating your income. As are other sources of income. E.g. tax-exempt municipal bond income doesn't count for Federal taxes but it does count for income limits for the health care subsidy. Offhand, I'm not familiar with income limits for an…

> deductible IRA contributions must be added back when calculating your income Not true. IRA/401k/HSA reduce MAGI for healthcare purposes. Do not confuse MAGI for the healthcare marketplace with MAGI on your tax return; those are two different figures. https://www.healthcare.gov/income-and-household-information/... https://www.healthcare.gov/reporting-deductions/

Ha. You're right about IRA deductions with respect to healthcare.

But I knew that I saw IRA being added back somewhere! It turns out I was thinking of FAFSA. IRA deductions are added back for computing income for financial aid purposes.

Tax exempt interest is added back for both healthcare and FAFSA.

That's why tax programs and tax accountants are essential. It's difficult for people who don't do this for a living to remember all of this.

Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#288

Post by thu2111 »

heavyset_go wrote: post #267
thu2111 wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha yeah -4, that's pretty far out. Lots of people who hate tax credits out there! It's really hard to defend libraries though. They're not just an inefficient use of space. They're bad for the environment too, as people have to travel back and forth all the time to swap books, discover the book they want isn't returned yet, etc. They're often badly maintained. Their books get damaged, lost or stolen. Their selectio…

You're missing the forest for the trees. Libraries are more than just books, they're free spaces for all types of learning, collaboration and production. I work remotely, sometimes from a library. I can request a space to work with others, and even hold large seminars if I wanted. There are dozens of free programs for kids to meet and learn, and there are opportunities for for working adults and the elderly, as well.…

Collaboration and production?

I think your local libraries are very different to the sorts of libraries I used to use as a child. What you're describing there sounds more like a community centre of some sort.

Libraries are traditionally silent for example. You don't collaborate in them or else you get shushed. You definitely don't run 3D printers in them!

But I can see that if that's what you associate with modern libraries then replacing them with book purchase credits would seem a poor trade.

Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#289

Post by lonelappde »

thu2111 wrote: post #288
heavyset_go wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're missing the forest for the trees. Libraries are more than just books, they're free spaces for all types of learning, collaboration and production. I work remotely, sometimes from a library. I can request a space to work with others, and even hold large seminars if I wanted. There are dozens of free programs for kids to meet and learn, and there are opportunities for for working adults and the elderly, as well.…

Collaboration and production? I think your local libraries are very different to the sorts of libraries I used to use as a child. What you're describing there sounds more like a community centre of some sort. Libraries are traditionally silent for example. You don't collaborate in them or else you get shushed. You definitely don't run 3D printers in them! But I can see that if that's what you associate with modern li…

Your experience with libraries is 20years behind the times.

My local library has a 3D printer.

Re: Suspicious Discontinuities

#290

Post by lonelappde »

PaulHoule wrote: post #253
jchrisa wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you are good at paperwork, but it’s worth remembering that even Google sometimes biffs a domain name renewal. Why put artificial hurdles in front of people who need help?

If you want to remove those hurdles you might want to see some more diversity (e.g. not lawyers) in Congress.

Congress makes laws. It's not a great place for building non-legal solutions.
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