What threshold to move from SEP to Solo401k?
I think this article explains it pretty well: Contributions to a SEP are limited to   20% of your business  income (which is   business income minus half of your   self-employment tax), up to a maximum   of $45,000. With a solo 401(k), on the   other hand, you can contribute up to   $15,500 plus 20% of your business   income (defined the same way as   above), with a maximum contribution of   $45,000 in 2007. You can make an extra   $5,000 catch-up contribution if you're   50 or older
"Well, everyone knows that a lot of funds have a strict policy to own a market-cap based part of shares from all listed companies above a certain threshold.    Now, if I would go and inflate my share price and market cap, they would be forced to buy in; you can argue that this is ""just exploiting a weakness of the market"", but for me that's simply fraud." Alot of these answers have focused on the dilution aspect, but from a purely legal aspect, there are usually corporate bylaws that spell out what kind of vote and percentage of votes is needed to take this type of action.  If all other holders of stock voted to do this, so 90% for, and you didn't, so 10% against, it's still legal if that vote meets the threshold for taking the action. As an example of this, I known of a startup where employees got $0/share for their vested shares when the company was sold because the voting stock holders agreed to it.  Effectively the purchase amount was just enough to cover debts and preferred stock. I'm assuming you are in the US here. From a tax perspective you don't need to take any action to start a business and deduct expenses.  If you have earned income coming from a source other than a W2 paying job, then you have a business.  On your taxes, this means you file a schedule C (which is where you will deduct business expenses) and schedule SE (which computes how much FICA tax you will owe on your business income).  When we talk about starting a business, we usually are talking about creating a corporation or LLC.  No particular tax advantage to that in your case, but there could be liability advantages, if you are concerned about that. If you file losses consistently year after year, the IRS might try and classify your business as a hobby.  That's what you should worry about.  I suppose incorporating might reduce the probability of that, but it might not.  Keep good records in case you need to argue with the IRS.  If you do have to argue with them, they will want to ensure that you only used the laptop and internet for your business.  That's a big if, but it's a potentially scary one. IRS Guidelines on hobby vs. business income Note: besides deducting expenses, another advantage of self-employment is opening a solo-401(k) or SEP or SIMPLE IRA.  These potentially allow you to set aside a lot more money than the typical IRA and 401(k) arrangement.  Thing is, you have to have a lot more earned income to really take advantage of them, but let's hope your app gets you there. I filed all my tax returns when I was abroad so they know how much I   made (just not how much I saved). I smell problems here. If you were compliant wrt to your filings, you must have filed FBAR forms and form 8938. Even if you were below the threshold for form 8938, you will probably be above it when you move back to the US - the threshold for people living in the US is much lower. Do I still need to declare it, even though I might not intend to use   this money to help my kids through college? I believe so. Here's what they want: Nothing there suggests that it is only limited to the accounts in the US or to the money you intend to use to help your kids through college. The average of a dozen good answers is close to what would be right, the wisdom of crowds. But any one answer will be skewed by one's own opinions.  The question is missing too much detail. I look at $400K as $16K/yr of ongoing withdrawals. How much do you make now? When the kids are all in school full time, can your wife work? $400K seems on the low side to me, especially with 3 kids. How much have you saved for college?  The $150K for your wife is also a bit low. Without a long tangent on the monetary value of the stay at home spouse, what will you spent on childcare if she passes?  Term life also has a expiration date. When my daughter was born, my wife and I got 20 year term. She is now 16, her college account fully funded, and we are semi-retired. The need for insurance is over. If one of us dies, the survivor doesn't need this big of a house, and will have more than they need to be comfortable in a downsized one. My belief is that the term value should bridge the gap to the kids getting through college and the spouse getting resettled. Too much less, I'd have left my wife at risk. Too much more, she'd be better off if I were dead. (I say that half joking, the insurance company will often limit the size policy to something reasonable.) "In US public stock markets there is no difference between the actions individual retail traders are ""permitted"" to take and the actions institutional/corporate traders are ""permitted"" to take.  The only difference is the cost of those actions.  For example, if you become a Registered Market Maker on, say, the BATS stock exchange, you'll get some amazing rebates and reduced transaction prices; however, in order to qualify for Registered Market Maker status you have to maintain constant orders in the book for hundreds of equities at significant volumes.  An individual retail trader is certainly permitted to do that, but it's probably too expensive. Algorithmic trading is not the same as automated trading (algorithmic trading can be non-automated, and automated trading can be non-algorithmic), and both can be anywhere from low- to high-frequency.  A low-frequency automated strategy is essentially indistinguishable from a person clicking their mouse several times per day, so: no, from a legal or regulatory perspective there is no special procedure an individual retail trader has to follow before s/he can automate a trading strategy.  (Your broker, on the other hand, may have all sorts of hoops for you to jump through in order to use their automation platform.) Last (but certainly not least) you will almost certainly lose money hand over fist attempting bid-ask scalping as an individual retail trader, whether your approach is algorithmic or not, automated or not.  Why?  Because the only way to succeed at bid-ask scalping is to (a) always be at/near the front of the queue when a price change occurs in your favor, and (b) always cancel your resting orders before they are executed when a price change occurs against you.  Unless your algorithms are smarter than every other algorithm in the industry, an individual retail trader operating through a broker's trading platform cannot react quickly enough to succeed at either of those.  You would have to eschew the broker and buy direct market access to even have a chance, and that's the point at which you're no longer a retail trader. Good luck!" Fast Forward 40 - 45 years, you're 70.5. You must take out ~5% from your Traditional IRA. If that was a Roth, you take out as much as you need (within reason) when you need it with zero tax consequences. I don't know (and don't care) whether they'll change the Roth tax exclusion in 40 years. It's almost guaranteed that the rate on the Roth will be less than the regular income status of a Traditional IRA. Most likely we'll have a value added tax (sales tax) then. Possibly even a Wealth Tax. The former doesn't care where the money comes from (source neutral) the latter means you loose more (probably) of that 2.2 MM than the 1.7. Finally, if you're planning on 10%/yr over 40 yrs, good luck! But that's crazy wild speculation and you're likely to be disappointed. If you're that good at picking winners, then why stop at 10%? Money makes money. Your rate of return should increase as your net worth increases. So, you should be able to pick better opportunities with 2.2 million than with a paltry 1.65 MM. Congratulations on saving up $75,000.  That requires discipline and tenacity.  There are a lot of factors that would go into making your decision.   First and foremost is the security of the income stream you have now.  Being leveraged during times of hardship is not a pleasant experience.  Unexpected job losses can and do happen.  Only you can determine how secure your and your spouse's situation is.   Second, I would consider the job market in the location that you live.  If you live in a small town it will be hard to find income levels like you have now.  Rental properties are additional ties to an area.  Are you happy in the area in which you live?  If you were laid off are there opportunities in the same area.  Being a long distance landlord is again not a pleasant experience.  I can throw being forced to sell to relocate at a reduced price into this same bucket. Third, you need to have 3 to 6 months of expenses saved for emergencies.  This is in addition to having no consumer debt (credit cards, car loans, student loans).  $75,000 feels like a lot.  Life can throw you curve balls.  You need to be prepared for them because of the fundamental nature of Murphy's Law.  If you were to be a landlord you should err closer to the six month end of the scale.  I own two rentals and can speak to people being late a given month, heating and air problems, plumbing issues, washers and dryers breaking, weather related issues, and even a tenant leaving behind for truckloads of trash.  Over 20 years I guess I have seen it all.  A rental agency will only act as a minor buffer.   Fourth, your family situation is important.  I personally save 10% of my income for my child's education.  If you haven't started doing so or have different feelings on what you might contribute think about it before any financial move. Fifth, any mortgage payment you are making should be 25% or less than your take home pay for a 15 year fixed rate mortgage.  Anything less than 20% down and you start burning up money on PMI insurance.  'House Poor' is a term for people that make high incomes but have too much being spent for housing.  It is the cause of a lot of financial stress. Sixth, you need to save for retirement.  The absolute minimum I recommend is 15% of your income.  Even if the match is 6% you should invest the full 15% making it 21%.  Social Security is a scary thing and depending on it is not wise.  I think your income still qualifies you for contributions to a Roth IRA.  If you aren't personally contributing 15% do so before making a move. There is an old joke that homeless people who have a 0 net worth often are richer than people driving fancy cars and living in fancy houses.  Ultimately no one can tell you the right answer.  Every situation is unique.  You have a complex tapestry to your financial life that no else one knows.