So we got the test results back from the bronchoscopy for my dad yesterday. There is no sign of cancer in the lymph nodes!! Yay!! So the area that does have cancer will need radiation treatment - but we were so worried about the lymph nodes. Fingers crossed that the radiation takes care of everything and he won't need chemo!
Thanks to all of you for your support. It's still stressful but at least that's one piece of good news!!
That's great news!!!
You must be so relieved.
Not sure if this is debt related (I guess so though!) we just changed our upcoming cruise from Alaska August 2016 to 7 night Bahamas January 2017. Alaska (on Disney) is already SO expensive, then add in our crummy CDN $ (which is predicted to go lower soon) and eventhough it's a 40th birthday celebration for both of us, we CANNOT justify in the end spending that much money. Even factoring in airfare to TX from Vancouver, this new cruise is still far less expensive. Shaved off even more by going from a Deluxe Inside back to a Standard inside. Hey, it'll be warm, we'll be up on deck and in the pools anyway
Plus....this means we might be able to swing a week long trip to Maui in May...stay tuned
Boy oh boy am I ever joining the 2016 Debt Dumpers thread, though!
Oh my! I just checked out prices for Alaska!
We sailed there in 2012 and I'm so glad we did back then. For what they want for a Navigator's Verandah cabin now, we got that plus an inside cabin across the hall for the kids. Really, the cruise fare is just a small part of it. We spent as much on excursions there as we typically would pay for a 7-nt cruise on the Magic. That was even with booking excursions on our own and prepaying in Feb or March to get 20% off. Back then the Onboard Booking perks were better; platinum cruisers would get $350 OBC per cabin from
DCL for booking onboard plus our TA gives $200 per cabin as a thank you for booking with her. So x2 cabins, we had $1100 in OBC which paid for the train ride in Skagway for all 4 of us then dh took our boys on some ziplining over waterfalls type of thing which I opted out of.
That was free too with our OBCs.
Now they have cut the OBC way back so all CC members get the same ol $200. It's better than nothing but still....
Also the year we sailed Alaska was the one season they sailed from Seattle. This made the flights much less expensive. It made the time in ports much less so that's why they went back to sailing from Vancouver.
I would definitely look into another cruise line. We barely spent any time enjoying the usual DCL aspects of a cruise. I don't think we even stepped into the WD theater except to hear the naturalist give an informative talk about Alaska.
Don't give up on it though!!! Just find another cruise line.
I am not a tax adviser, but to quote one of my college professors "(You) know just enough to be really dangerous". ;-)
In general, capitol gains tax rates are less than standard income tax rates - that has been part of the big political discussion for the past many years. People in the top tier income brackets make most of their money based on capitol gains, which are taxed at a 10 - 15% rate instead of the "normal" income rate of 20 - 35% for that amount of "earned income".
Not saying that you shouldn't hold back more than enough to cover the taxes, just that it might not be as bad as you think it could be. AND capitol gains are taxed based on the gain. So, if you "bought" the land from your father for $1000, and sold it for $1100, you would pay taxes on the $100 gain, at 10-15% so only $10-$15 dollars, not $110 - $165 based on the sale price. (In this example - only you know the actual amounts involved).
The fun part will be finding the documentation showing how much your dad "sold" the land to you and your sister for originally.
Well, you explained it a whole lot better than I did.
I guess the reason I'm thinking it's such a high tax is that in my parents' situation, it's a shore house on the water so it's prime real estate. Also my dad works in construction so he designed it (with some of my input back in 11th grade!) and built most of it himself. I think he only paid to have the foundation dug, pilings set & drilling/testing for a water well. Oh and I guess to have concrete poured for driveway & walkways. So anyway it will be a huge difference between what he paid to have it built back in the mid 1980's vs. what it's worth now.
I didn't mean to scare the pp into thinking it would be a huge amount. It all depends on the value of the land. I would think all the documentation would be registered with the deed in the town hall. Isn't that part of closing costs?
I'm so sorry to hear this. We have been there a few times too. It will get better!
Time to go into super-thrifty mode and really only spend on basic needs.
Is your dh handy? Can he do any side work? Even raking leaves for people who are unable/can't be bothered would help.
People around here easily charge $40-50 to have their gutters cleaned out which keep filling up with leaves. 3-4 houses per day in addition to unemployment will hold you over until he gets another job.
Good luck with his job searching & hang in there!
