Over the first few years of early retirement I noticed a disturbing trend… dividends were increasing at a much too rapid pace!
Between 2012 and 2017, the dividend payout of VTI / VTXAX grew at an annual rate of more than 9%! The growth rate on our portfolio was even higher (14%+) which brought annual dividends from $28,139 in 2013 to $36,760 in 2015. Annual inflation over the same period was only about 1.5%.
While dividend growth investors were most certainly overjoyed, I was busy reducing our dividend income.
Please, corporations of the world… stop paying so many dividends.
What is the ROI of incremental Self-Employment taxes?
By taking GCC truly global and incorporating overseas, we can completely eliminate Self Employment taxes.
Although this is only one of many factors to consider, these pesky payroll taxes take 15.3% of every dollar of profit we make on this little blog. All else being equal, I would rather pay $0 than $5,000+.
But of course, all else is not equal. Fewer dollars paid in Self Employment taxes will result in smaller Social Security checks down the road. (Checks? I’m definitely dating myself.)
2016 was our 4th full year of living large. And this year we have the receipts to go with it.
We traveled a bit, spending time in 16 countries. This includes a month in Thailand, a month in Malaysia, a few days in Singapore, 4 months in Western Europe, 2 months in the US, and a few months in Taiwan. Jr has been to 17 countries now.
GCC: Ever since I became an accidental business owner when this blog started making a little dough, I have had a small problem… Self-Employment taxes. Extra money and an interesting tax dilemma are fun problems to have, I agree, but those confounded SE taxes were totally ruining my Never Pay Taxes Again street cred. And that, I simply could not abide.
So I began exploring my options, writing as I went. For example, last year I shared Never Pay Taxes Again by Moving Abroad, which explains how digital nomads (working for themselves or a US employer) can reduce or eliminate their US federal income tax burden simply by traveling the globe. Amazing! But it still didn’t address my SE tax challenge.
Shortly thereafter, I had my first phone call to discuss creating a Belize Corporation with Stewart Patton, a US tax attorney, expat entrepreneur, and founder of U.S Tax Services.
“You’ve done your research”, he said. “I think you’ve just solved my most annoying problem”, I replied.
We liked each other immediately.
See, even though the US tax code has something for everybody, it offers just a little bit more to business owners. Of course, with better tax benefits come more complicated rules. So I’ve asked Stewart to share a guest post about how expat entrepreneurs (like you? like me?) can truly Never Pay Taxes Again. This time, with your own Overseas Corp.
Some households will have a zero or even negative tax burden, but most will have a tax obligation for the year. This is usually paid at least in part through paycheck withholding or estimated tax payments.
This is also the case for us since we pay Self-Employment tax on blog income. (But… plans are in motion to reduce/eliminate this.)
And I don’t know about you, but if I have to pay some taxes…. I at least better get a ridiculously cheap☆ trip to Hawaii out of the deal.
