OT - Grumpy Old Man Thread

[MikeDeTiger]

Finished my taxes.  Had to pay in a couple thousand bucks.  Grumpy.

Try to focus on the small silver lining of how you didn't loan the government $ interest-free over the year.  

[MikeDeTiger]

Here, I'll be grumpy for a moment...fixed it for ya^^^^^. :-)

My mom's family was an Army family (in her and her parents' generation, at least), and all spent lots of time in Germany post war (only one of them spent much time there during the war, and I guess even that was only a few months). They all adopted a lot of German cultural habits, to the point that my nieces and nephews call my mom and dad Oma and Opa...which I find odd (and maybe makes me grumpy?).

When you say "spent time there during the war," do you mean someone serving in active duty, or something else?  

A lady from Germany moved to Houston next door to my uncle and his wife decades ago.  I don't know much about her story but she had no husband or children by the time they knew her.  She still had a house and belongings in Germany and she tapped them to administrate her estate when she passed.  They did it because they understood she had no one else to do it.  I don't think it bothered my uncle....that dude lives to hop on a plane and go have an adventure.  I think having to go spend time in Germany cleaning out her place and dispersing her stuff according to her wishes made my aunt grumpy, tho.  Germany has very different property/inheritance laws than here, so in some ways I gather their job was simpler than what I might've imagined.  

[betarhoalphadelta]

Finished my taxes.  Had to pay in a couple thousand bucks.  Grumpy.

Yeah I paid feds and got some back from CA, but net was several thousand outlay.

[bayareabadger]

I had to pay a few grand. 

But that’s because I have a bit of income from stock sales and part time work, so that’s been earning a bit of growth for a while. 

[utee94]

Yeah I like to keep mine on the razor's edge so I'm neither paying a lot in April, nor providing the US government interest-free loans.

This time the balance ended up slightly in the poor direction but overall I'd rather it turn out this way.

Still grumpy about all the taxes though.  

[betarhoalphadelta]

Still grumpy about all the taxes though. 

Yep. I make the mistake(?) every year of looking at the total number.

Ultimately it doesn't matter whether I get back or owe at the end of the year. All that matters is the total burden. 

[847badgerfan]

I wish I only had to pay a couple of thousand.

[FearlessF]

Feds got me for $5K - State for another $2K

apparently, I made some $$$ on dividends or something

I probably had too much in the checking account anyway - solved that issue Friday

[utee94]

I wish I only had to pay a couple of thousand.

Well I did pay quite a bit more than a couple of thousand.  I just paid it throughout the year...

[847badgerfan]

Unrealized gains.

[MrNubbz]

Still grumpy about all the taxes though. 

Yeah I paid feds and got some back from CA

I had to pay a few grand.

Here I thought it was just my carcass they were picking over

[betarhoalphadelta]

Unrealized gains.

Yeah, I might avoid paying next April...

...by having my CPA pay all the estimated quarterly taxes on all the unrealized gains that will become realized gains this year.

[847badgerfan]

I withhold on my own - usually get close.

Still doesn't make writing the check fun.

[betarhoalphadelta]

I withhold on my own - usually get close.

Still doesn't make writing the check fun.

Yep. I don't worry much about whether I get a check or owe at the end of the year. I always look at how much I've paid in total (and then add SS/Medicare). 

My wife was conditioned by getting money back every year to look forward to tax time, and she was annoyed that we ended up owing. But then I showed her our total tax burden, and she ceased caring about paying or getting some back... She now was angered by how much we paid in total!