Current exchange rate: 148 (boo)
Market movement: up
The first month of 2024 is over already, although it still feels like the year has just begun.
US tax season is also fast approaching. I’ve done it enough times by now that the whole process only takes me a few hours, although there are a few extra wrinkles this year. Now that I’m married, I can no longer file as Single, but I also can’t file jointly as my wife is not a US citizen or permanent resident and thus, shockingly, has no desire to start declaring and paying US taxes. As I also have no children, I’m forced to file as Married Filing Separately, which is objectively the worst filing status. One of my deductions is unfortunately now halved, and I didn’t realize this would happen until after 2023 had ended, and as a result my Roth conversion was a little bit too much and now I will owe a few hundred dollars of US tax. Not a huge deal in the big picture, but still annoying. In addition, I can no longer file electronically as the IRS’s system can’t handle MFS with a non-resident alien spouse (if you are married, it requires the spouse’s SSN, with no exception for case if the spouse doesn’t have a SSN). So, for the first time ever, I will have to file my taxes on paper. In 2024. It seems that updating the software to handle my (not that uncommon) case is too hard for the homeland of Silicon Valley and multi-trillion dollar tech conglomerates.
No, I’m not bitter, why do you ask?
Here’s a summary of my financial position this month:
| Description | 1/24 |
|---|---|
| Total Expenses | $2,912.06 |
| Gross Income | $7,031.04 |
| Taxes | $917.28 |
| Net Income | $6,113.76 |
| Savings | $3,201.70 |
| Savings Rate | 52.4% |
| Net Worth | $458,691.75 |
Projected time to FI (assuming 6% growth and 4% withdrawal rate): 9 years, 5 months.