[quote]KSman wrote:
See the thread in this forum: Blood tests on sale
Get some data and really know what is going on. You may not have clinical hypogonadism, a narrow definition, but maybe hitting limitations caused by declining T levels.
On-line clinics will not write scripts for you. They will ship drugs and needles at huge markups. And they can often charge too much for blood work.
Testosterone and hCG are cheap in the USA as prescription drugs. TRT is affordable.
I have a lot to say to those who are self-employed or small s-corps.
You are self employed. If you have a 'high deductibility" health plan, also get a HSA and fund that with pre-tax dollars. Have your insurance auto pay med expenses from that and also get a debit card to pay for other medical related expenses. And get your taxable income reduced which is more money in your pocket. With the debit card and auto-pay through your health insurance, you then do not have the burden of mailing claims and receipts to the HSA or insurer. You still need to keep receipts for the HSA debit card use in case the IRA was ever to audit your HSA distributions. HSA contributions limits for 2007 were $5650 for two (filing jointly). Add another $800 for each of you that are over 55 years old. Turbo-Tax 2007 was not allowing the $800 for an over 50 spouse of a under 50 tax payer filing jointly. I battled with Turbo-Tax for over 2 hours and the code has been fixed and is available via the on-line updates.
When self employed, you can set up a SEP-IRA and put up to 25% of your earnings into that, saving a huge amount of taxation.
If you have any investments in non tax sheltered plans or stocks etc. Max out your SEP-IRA every year, drawing down those other investment and moving money into the SEP-IRA. A nice shell game and perfectly legal. The earnings and capital gains in the SEP-IRA are tax sheltered.
For 2007, the contribution limit is $15,550. If over age 50, add another $5000. The rules and regs in IRS Sec. 1.414(v)-1 are very clear about the SEP-IRA catch-up. However, IRS publication is a flawed document and IRS employees read it wrong. Turbo-Tax also does not thing that SEP-IRAs have catch-ups. However I have forwarded 1.414(v) and other legislation, three items, one a Treasury directive to the IRS, to their attention. Many plan administrators understand the SEP-IRA catch-up. With Turbo-Tax 2007 you need to over-ride the calculation.
Health, wealth and taxes are all connected.[/quote]
ok, a little out of the blue, but you’re right on. For those of you who are self employed and have not set up an IRA or SEP its rather simple to due, and the benefits are extreme when measured over time.
As Ksman noted, the deferral of taxes on gains/profits (capital or ordinary) is one of the most advanced advantages to self employed individuals. The reduction of income on and annual basis via a deduction on your tax return is a good bonus.
Setting up one of these accounts is pretty simple. I have two, one for my wife and one for me, and we set them up at etrade and Merrill Lynch. Funding one is low level at etrade, the Merrill account was higher, and a little more expensive, but we wanted some of the other account benefits including access to their full research library (think T-Nation search function but in financial/company terms).
One other thing you might want to consider is a Roth IRA. These accounts shelter you from immediate ordinary and capital gains, but without the benefit of being able to take a deduction from your tax return for contributions to the account.
However, with a Roth IRA (unlike a traditional IRA or SEP) you gain the benefit of allowing your money to grow tax free, and then when you withdraw monies from this account you withdraw the funds TAX FREE.
Depending on current tax rates at the time of your withdrawl {who knows what they will be then, and in my case maybe 45 years out}, your circumstances then and now, and your age, this type of account could allow you to grow your retirement money fast, furious, and safe.
Take your retirement serious, if your struggling financially now, at a younger, think about how much it would suck to struggle when your at retirment ages with very little prospects to earn the type of money you will need to live in retirement.
Consider that history has proven over multiple generations that the cost of everyting, housing, food, cars, electricity, gasoline, etc., goes up, sideways, and then up again. It is an inevitable truth that thru the power of multiplication (read inflation) you will need many times more money later to live in the same manner as you live now, even if you do downsize.
If you can adjust your financial priorities to address a retirment savings then you should. If you cant because your are struggling then it is more important that you take whatever steps necessary to start.
I suggest you make the hard decisions to change the way you live to make sure you’re paying yourself first (retirement account contributions) and then making do with what is left; you maybe be struggling but you will guarantee that you wont need to rent a shared room for your retirement castle.
