smo

8 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Wait until next year and go in early to apply for the extension with the standard income affidavit with some additional  proof of your income. I think what they want is for you to bring the money into a Thai bank account on a regular basis not having the 800k baht in the bank for 3 months.

The US embassy is not allowed to verify any document by law.

Ubonjoe, I truly sympathize with you when you have to time and time again explain about the income affidavit that US expats need to have notarized by their embassy, whenever a new forum member wants clarification regarding the legality of the document. It never fails to have some non-US members jump in at this instance to voice their frustration as to why US embassy doesn't require income verification while theirs does, with insinuation such as "ok, you guys want to protect you guys, right?" This is the gist of the matter, isn't it?

Alright, this is how I understand the idea behind the notarization by our US embassy, using very plain language: supposed I, a US citizen, want an affidavit (something in writing) that reads "My dog is a black german shepherd". The embassy staff will have me swear that what I put down in writing is truly what my statement is all about. To put it plainer than plain, it wants me to really agree with (with clear understanding of)  what I have put down on the document, that my true intention is to say that I have a black german shepherd, not that I prefer a white persian cat.  It's not their job to verify that a) I have a dog or b   ) that it is a german shepherd and c) that it is black.

After you swear and nod your agreement, you and the staff would sign it, and the staff person would emboss the embassy stamp on the affidavit. And this is what your 50 dollars will get you. At the US embassy, repeat. Anyway, if your embassy wants to verify your income, then call them on the carpet and ask why it does? Don't ask us why ours does not, or shout out warnings that we better prepare for the day blah blah blah... Thanks but no, thanks!

Believe it or not, I was planning in the next couple of days to stalk the soi where the young man got off the songthaew; but then I had the remaining wisdom to first ask for advice on this board. Am I so glad I did! I truly needed all the gong-banging  and the klieg lights glaring at that simple age equation (60-20=40) that you guys were shouting down from the rafters with heartfelt gusto and no ridicule whatsoever (well maybe laced with a bit of sarcasm, but even that was welcome!). They glared so hard into my dimmed consciousness that finally the scales fell from my eyes, so to speak. It's like you took me to behind the scene and replayed the scenario on the little monitor (sorry for heavy-handed Hollywood metaphors here).

Objectively speaking, I'm just curious as to how quickly the kid got me in his crosshairs. Yeah, he might or might not be gay, but that doesn't really matter in the world of moneyboy/girls doesit? Either he's got his gaydar high up, or my lust was too "naked?" His office dress code might have got me fooled for a moment (but that's all it took) telling me he was not a) a moneyboy and b   )  that he's at a decent ie legit job and therefore he must be innocent (and wholesome and what else). That may be true but that doesn't mean he's a virgin in regards to sugardaddies.  His good looks might have procured him with more opportunities (and experiences) than his station in life allowed. I mean the transition from seeing me noticing him to tagging me an easy prey happened almost instantaneously! Most of us, including yours truly, certainly have walked down this path before, but somehow and sometimes we/I forget. It might have to do with advancing age blurring the rough edges of everyday reality, it might also be something else to do with the mirage that seems to be looming larger and larger as we get closer and closer to.....the idea of having a partner in whose arms we will let go off our last breath is a very real and painful ("I don't want to die alone") preoccupation that some of us here I am sure have begun to contemplate.

However the main lesson here is regardless at what stage in life one finds oneself - the earlier the better-  don't be a deer caught in the headlights, take control of the moment, take chances and make things happen because if you don't, nobody else (or mommy or daddy) will do it for you. And worse, you might spend the rest of your life regretting it! (After all is said and done, I still wish that I HAD followed him off the songthaew, come what may!)

I'm calling for a round of drinks to all those who chipped in (wouldn't it be great if we were having this discussion in a bar?) You have pulled me back up to the surface and for all your dry-eyed wisdom and words of comfort this is just what the doctor ordered. Thank you so very much - I'm gonna have a much needed good night sleep tonight (to the soundtrack of Annie singing "Tomorrow, tomorrow...")

"Fortune favors the bold" right on!

I know this is really a glitch of the mind but I need help, seriously. I'm a gay Asian-American male in my early 60s still active and fit. [If this subject turned you off then please stop reading and spare ourselves the nonsense, thank you.] This past Monday I was going for my midday swim at the local swimming pool. When I got on the songthaew a young Thai guy also got on at the same time and sat opposite me. I hardly paid attention to him, my mind was on something else. Then it was an instance of "me noticing you noticing me." He is in his early twenty, cleanly dressed as office worker, white shirt, black tie, long black pants and shoes, with an id badge thrown around his neck. Very handsome. He was holding some document envelopes in one hand and on the other a small drink from 7/11 that he was still drinking from. Very soon he seemed to be beaming at me, though demurely but definitely interested in catching my glances. My reaction was also demure, slyly letting he know that I was also reacting to his attention, positively. I then told myself that I will follow him wherever he was going to get off.

And here are the steps that I didn't take: 1) at one point he winked at me, I did not acknowledge that, or I did with a very faint turnup of the mouth, all this time I was pretending I was staring some space past his shoulders, not looking at him directly - 2) when he pushed the stop request button with a very clear body signal that he was going to get off, again I did not react decisively - 3) when he stepped out of the carriage and stood at the back running board waiting for the songthaew to come to a complete stop, I was still glued on my seat -4) last chance when he came to the front to pay, he was practically standing behind my back as I turned around to look, still I did nothing. It was like I was having an out of body experience watching him crossing to the other side of the small soi and walk away, out of my life.

That was two days ago. Since then I can't stop rewinding this sequence and alternating the ending: ok, where should I be leaping off after my guy? step 1, 2, 3 or 4? Yesterday I even loitered for some time at the bus stop and later walked into BigC a few steps away to see if I could spot him in those banking branches. In my room I feel very alone, which rarely ever happens; at night I even got scared, afraid to go to sleep for fear of reliving the episode where I would have to make THE decisive move (needless to say I haven't been sleeping too well.) As stated at the start, I know this is a trick of the mind, like the car engine got stuck in one gear, unable to switch to another. When I told my Thai teacher about this, her remark was that I was a coward. She didn't say in so many words, just "you're not brave, you won't be able to run any business." It's true, all my life whenever it comes to romantic decisions/encounters I always went into a passive trance, in which decisions are eventually made by mere indecisiveness/inertia and I've got to stand outside looking in (I vaguely know where this comes from, "you're don't deserve anything, nobody wants you" was the mantra of my childhood, courtesy of my stepmon, but we won't get into this.) I should have learned my lesson by now, but I didn't.

I remember little voices coming to my head as I watched the young man getting off, "oh, this is still far from where I need to go," "oh, he's skinny (actually he's not, he's still a strapping young man, not fully grown) not my type!" Anyway all the negative remarks came piling on to prevent me from jumping to action. Also, during the course of us exchanging glances, I did not make any direct acknowledgement (let alone a friendly opening "sawatdee krap") that okay, we're "in", neither to him nor, more importantly, to myself. Rather the prevalent mode was "just let it ride"; the voice that says " get off and follow him" was very faint, and finally stifled by the last minute trivial remarks. As I got older, I have learned one aspect of making decisions: whatever decision you have to make, you'll have to consider beforehand what was going to be the worse outcome, and are you going to be able to live with it? What I did not (have time to) consider in this instance - and this is crucial - was how I was going to handle the consequence of the non-action course. Which is exactly what I have to deal with in the aftermath at the present time.

I don't think this is any twisted pathology that needs psychological expertise, however I seemed to be heading toward depression ("You'll never see him again, you miss your last chance of happiness, your life is over, etc.") Incidentally I am posting on this general forum rather than the gay sub-forum because I think this sort of experience is rather universal, sexual orientation has little to do with it. I'm normally a positive person, but as I have fallen into this deep funk, I'm really reaching out for help. I welcome all constructive inputs, especially members who have experienced with this kind of life mishaps please give advice. Thank you all in advance and wishing you a good day,

22 hours ago, skatewash said:

Going forward though, you should know that you must report on your tax return any interest you have received whether or not you have received a 1099-INT or not.  Also, there's no exemption on reporting income earned outside the US.  The IRS taxes US citizens on their world-wide income, doesn't matter where it was earned.  If you earn interest income you must report it.  TaxAct asks at some point if you have another 1099-INT to report.  You should have entered one for your US bank (you are the account holder you should know the amount of interest you received in the account for the year, even though they were not required to send you a formal 1099-INT).  For the foreign interest income earned I enter 1099-INTs for my Thai bank even though, of course, they don't send me a 1099-INT.  In that case, you just need to enter the name and address of the bank, and the interest earned.  Your Thai bank is unlikely to have a Taxpayer Identification Number.(TIN) so you don't have to enter anything for that.

 

FWIW, I went through quite a bit of hand-wringing over the bank interest/1099-INT item. The fact that I contacted my bank not once, but twice regarding the issue shows my duly concern over the matter. Also part of my taking so long to do the tax was to calculate my Thai bank interests (updating the passbooks which I  rarely do so when I first put one in I had it faced down - getting the IRS end of year currency conversion rate - and doing the math which came to somewhere in the vicinity of 85 usd total) so when TaxAct asked for it I had all the numbers ready. But it never did. And truth be told, I was more than once on the verge of filling in the non-existent 1099-INT from my US bank only to back off at the gate because I didn't want to be accused of fraud ("why did you make up a non-existing document? you signed to be telling the truth didn't you?"- voice of IRS). At the end of the day, I under reported my income by less than 100 usd.

Nah, I won't lose sleep over this, but I'm more excited than ever about going back to the States and wringing the neck of the teller who insisted that I left off the 10% tax holding. But considering I won't be going back there anytime soon, by the time I land in US soil next he probably has left his post to become our next POTUS. Oh, well, but thank you so much for deciphering the bank interest issue for me and yeah, next year when comes tax time, I will definitely do the right thing.

[An interesting sidenote - what if in a few years, I will start getting "slightly" senile and won't be able to do all this on my own? Time to check out the legal services advertissements on Thaivisa webpage?]

After much shrafenfreuden (spelling? help! it's german for angst) I finally got my returns filed successfully thanks to my NBF(new best friend) TaxAct. I initially started with TaxACt, but then switched to TurboTax because it was more familiar to me, however right off the bat TurboTax wanted to charge for federal (filing 1040NR) simply because I declared my domicile abroad. So I went back to TaxAct and started all over again.

The detour with TurboTax helped me familiarize myself with taxing matters again, so the second time with TaxAct was a smooth ride, even enjoyable one thanks to its great user friendly interface. It also does great with the "morning after" ie what to do next to check on your return status ect. once filed and accepted. I can't recommend TaxAct enough.

My initial concerns were due to this being the first time I did return as an expat. My bank interest also threw me in a loop because I wanted to do the right thing and declare even though the sum is 10 bucks and some cents. That necessitated a couple of calls to my US credit union to firts, learn, second, confirm that they don't issue a 1099-INT for interest less than 10 dollars. The other issue that I did not have to deal with was interest on my thai bank accounts (which is also not much, but more than 10 bucks.) As it turned out (going through the steps with TaxAct), if I had less than 200K usd "offshore" then the IRS is not interested except for the FBAR thing (I have the feeling I might be wrong about or have misunderstood this matter). [re FBAR I read somewhere that they have moved the deadline to file to coincide with April 15?]

In summary, my returns were filed as 1040A and CA 540NR, at no charge with TaxAct and took me one evening to go through all the steps, and this morning to click on the e-file button. (The prep time for me is another matter). So thank you all again for your advice and inputs, especially khuns skatewash and gk10002000 for your very detailed explanations. Much appreciated. After all said and done, I'm glad for having gone through this refresher tax return filing experience. Wishing you all a good day.

On 2/20/2017 at 9:20 PM, skatewash said:

 

Regarding the 540NR form:  if I remember your situation correctly, you were filing this year to get back money withheld from an IRA disbursement.  Are you required to file a state return every year?  I'm not sure an NR state form is covered by the free filing offers from TurboTax or TaxAct.  Other than that, is there any advantage to filing the regular state return rather than the NR one?  If you're really not a resident of the state then I would be inclined to file the NR state return.  Whether the tax software cross-references your yes answer to the non-US resident foreign financial asset question to the use of a regular state income tax return is something I don't know.
 

Somewhere earlier on this thread it’s been mentioned that filing a state 540NR is rather cumbersome (when do you live in, when do you live out?) so the lazy in me just wanted to avoid it if I could. You remember correctly, I only file this year (state or otherwise) simply because I wanted to get back the tax withholding that I meted out unwittingly during my IRA withdrawal transaction. Bottom line I’m not averse to telling the truth, and as I have filed FBAR last couple of years in a timely manner, I’m hiding nothing.

Fact is, there isn’t much to hide to begin with: my credit union told me that they’re not sending me a 1099-INT this year because my interest falls below the minimum of 10 bucks!  It’s just that I haven’t filed tax returns for a number of years and  kinda lost touch with what goes in and what goes out so to speak. Maybe my questions made the matter seem more complicated that it is, and therefore it sounded like I had something to hide. (And now it sounds like I’m on the defensive, but I have no reason to be. Just wanted to un-muddle the water, shall we say )

Regarding interest on my foreign bank accounts, more or less the same story, maybe a bit more than 10 bucks (I never bothered to figure out the amounts in dollar), but nowhere near enough to bump me above the hoi polloi of the do-not-bother-to-file category; so normally I would go year after year without filing returns  - but in the future I will make effort to file nevertheless, as the concensus here says it’s better to do so. Again thank you all for chipping in, especially skatewash for taking the time to give me the lowdown on the situation.

On 1/4/2017 at 3:09 PM, skatewash said:

Also, I guess it's worthwhile mentioning that anyone who has aggregate assets of more than $10,000 in financial account(s) located outside the US has to report that annually online using a Form 114, commonly called the FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts).  For most Americans living in the US it's probably unusual to meet this filing requirement.  However, it is quite common for Americans living outside the US.  This report is done separately from filing your income taxes.  The penalties for not doing this report (if you are required to do so) are quite severe.  More info on the FBAR here, including guidelines for whether you have to file or not:  https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/taxpayers-with-foreign-assets-may-have-fbar-and-fatca-filing-requirements-in-june

 

 

I am using TurboTax for both federal and state returns. It was smooth sailing until it asked about any “foreign financial assets” I answered “Yes” for “Do you have any…” and “No” for “Did you live in a foreign country?” Are these the proper answers (as opposed to correct)? The reason I answered “No” to the latter was I don’t want to file the 540NR for state return, as I still maintain a US address (as far as my US bank is concerned.) The truth is yes, I’ve been living in Thailand since 2014.

FWIW, I have been doing FBAR for the last couple of years so I’m good on that. I guess I will have to report the interest of my Thai bank accounts to the Interest and Dividends section of the return as stated in one of the screenshots?

On 2/8/2017 at 6:47 AM, skatewash said:

I would think just the opposite.  If you submit the return by mail, then you should include all the 1099-R forms (which show the tax withheld) with your return.  If you submit the return online, then you do not need to submit any 1099-R forms.  However, you do need to enter the information from a 1099-R form for your distribution.  
 

Thank you so much for taking the time and giving a very clear yet detailed account of the tax filing process involving IRA distribution. I really appreciated it (especially the bit about what if the software shows "no refund for you.") I'm still kicking myself for not knowing better when I did the withdrawal, if I had - and even if I had not, I could still have checked around (meaning seeking advice on this forum) first - so that I would have had the matter of tax witholdings in my hand before showing up at the bank teller window. But as you said, it's all water under the bridge now, hence my quest for a tax return.

I have contacted my bank since my last posting, and luckily after a couple of phone mishaps (calling them on the weekend, thailand time, etc..), gotten in contact with a very helpful customer rep in the IRA department. Immediately while we were on the phone, she emailed me the form which she said had been sent out early mid January. (Concurrently at about the same time, just before I left the US I had made a change of address, but according to the rep not in time so the 1099R form was still sent to my US address.) 

She stayed on the phone to make sure I could open the attachment, as it was sent through secure encryption. Luckily I have two laptops, the "young" -read intel i7 -one that I brought back from the states could not/would not open it, but the "older" - much older,  read pentium duo core - one, which by virtue of having been around the block I guess, opened the attachment with nary a hiccup. So there I was at 2am bangkok time, basking in the blissful knowledge that I had finally in my possession all the banking info necessary that tax software requires, and dithering on instead of going to bed!

One lesson I learned from this experience was that you can no longer trust customer reps to have the right amount of knowledge to give you proper services as expected. Or more to the point, you can no longer rely on them to do what best for you. So one has to prepare to be armed with as much ammunition as one can before undertaking any business whether that's got to do with either large, or small institutions.

Again, thank you skatewash for all the trouble. I will certainly keep you posted with my progress. Cheers:-)

On 1/10/2017 at 3:23 AM, gk10002000 said:

Yes, in general you do not Submit or file the 1099 with your return.  The IRS and state agencies have electronic notifications or access to the amounts involved.  I have done 401k to IRA roll overs and never submitted anything.  I have not done an IRA withdrawal yet, but I doubt the 1099 has to be submitted.  I get several 1099 Gs for gambling winnings and I do NOT submit those with my returns, I just report the amounts.  The agencies have electronic access to the 1099s

Both TaxAct and TurboTax ask for 1099-R when it comes to declaring IRA distributions/withdrawals. My guess is that when you did your tax by MAIL, then you wouldn't need to include the 1099s?

On 1/3/2017 at 1:42 PM, skatewash said:

This might help you decide whether you want or need to file a California tax return:

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/fileRtn/Nonresidents-Part-Year-Residents.shtml

 

My cursory reading of it sounds like you might not have to file, but you may still want to file to get back the money California withheld from your IRA distribution.

 

I'm a little surprised given the amount of the IRA distribution you weren't given the choice to have tax withheld or not.  Not having it withheld would have been the way to go.  However, that's water under the bridge at this point.

I'm guessing that TurboTax or TaxAct might want to charge extra for a Non Resident state return rather than the standard California tax return.  If that were the case I might be tempted to use either of those packages to do my Federal return and then prepare the California 540NR myself on paper.  It should involve little more than transferring information from the federal return to the state return.

3 mellow weeks after my return to Thailand have got me energized enough to get off my butts and down and dirty with taxing matters. I signed up with both TaxAct and TurboTax and looked forward  to smooth sailing with both, however some glitches along the way...

On 1/14/2017 at 1:17 PM, ukrules said:

I'd like to know why you were prescribed Erythromycin instead of Amoxicillin ?

 

Unless you have an allergic reaction to Penicillins then the go to drug of choice for generic tooth issues is Amoxicilin which is very cheap.

 

Of course Erythromycin should also be very cheap as well but : 'Murica

Right on, yes I'm allergic to Penicillin.

7 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

 

Dental visits are not covered by any Medical Insurance program, only by Dental Medical Insurance plans.  The only time a dental visit could be covered would be in the case of an accident, then it is considered a Medical (reimbursable) necessity 

 

This is one of the failings of the US medical system, despite the fact that dental health is critical in overall  health, the dental community is treated as second class citizens in the US

 

Even Blue Cross, a cadillac insurance plan will not cover anything to do with my teeth 

But it does, (it in this case is Obamacare/Medical): so far I have had one check up (with xray), one cleaning and 3 fillings and haven't paid one penny. The one thing (maybe there are others) that is not covered is root canal when done on front teeth (according to my dentist who was quick to point out I'm going to need one - maybe two. Ouch)

It's OP here. Sorry for misconstruing the circumstance when I said "been living in Little Saigon". I should have said "been staying  in Little Saigon during my home visit" which lasted all 4 months of turbulent world events: King's death, Trump's win, deadly winter weather blanketing/flooding Europe and US SouthEast, etc. So glad to be coming home to tropical BKK  the day after tomorrow. And yes, I'm a Yank (and a confirmed bachelor to boot  .)

Thank you all for your inputs and it's a lot to digest. If nothing else, Diane's being both right and wrong by inference means that I'm both wrong and right. There, girl! (she insisted on having my defense argument "in writing"). However I'm still baffled by the fact that the VNmese seniors here get (free) Medicare even though they have no work history whatsoever (haven't been on US soil that long, most being brought over here - quite often against their will- by their offsprings who have long resettled in the States.)

Tomorrow I'm going to visit a couple of VNmese grandpa and grandma (I'm godfather to their grandchildren) to say goodbye. This old couple have the best medical care from Medicare, it seems their main daily activities are going to doctor appointments! They both have surgeries one time or another (grandma had brain surgery, grandpa colon) all done by top-drawer UCI (University of California of Irvine).

In the past I've heard them discussing Medicare part A/B but I never paid attention to it. I"m going to drill them tomorrow and will get back here and enlighten you all (no I dare not!)

"

[My next "broadcast" will be from my comfortable studio in Ramkhamhaeng (yeehaw!)]

ps - Also I wonder what I'll need to do in order "not to burn any bridges? I forgot to add that no, I have never entertained the idea that somehow Medicare would cover me when living overseas. In fact, I am going to sign up Cigna Global upon my return....

And while we're still on the same subject (of flying into Thailand), there would also be custom declarations form as usual? Anything I need to be up-to-date on that?

3 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Check before you leave the counter and the officer can fix it there and then, otherwise you need to go to immigration for them to fix it (free).

 

 Very helpful info Crossy, thanks.

4 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

And it is that date to which you will be stamped when you arrive.

 

The airline should give you a new TM6 on the flight (they often creep round when everyone is sleeping), if you don't get one they are available at the immigration area before the queue.

 

 And we/I better check and make sure that it be precisely so - I guess there have been cases given the wrong date when one is not looking... I don't mean to sound paranoid here.

12 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It is the same for both single and multiple re-entry permits.

You use the re-entry permit number because that is what is used to obtain the permit to stay date you get on entry.

I see. Which has the same "valid until" date on which my  current retirement extension expires. Thanks ubonjoe for the fine point.

8 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Because the visa is no longer valid for entry, your re-entry permit is.

 

Of course if you really want to wind up the immigration chap by putting the number of an expired visa be my guest, you may then have to go through the hassle of getting the 30 day visa-exemption he gave you corrected.

Ok I get it. The re-entry permit - with a "live" date - is a "stand-in" for the non-imm visa that is no longer valid ie "dead". That makes sense. Thanks Crossy and ubonjoe for the enlightenment, as always.

48 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

 

I used to slip the TM6 into the same page too, but they invariably remove it without opening the passport.

Isn't the TM6 the departure card if I recalled correctly? It was collected on my way out of Thailand so I no longer have it.

52 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

 

On entry you write the re-entry permit number in the space on the arrival card for a visa number. Then check that the officer stamped you in using your re-entry permit.

 

 

Does this apply to  SINGLE re-entry permit as well ? I'm flying back to Thailand this Sat with just a single re-entry permit... How about the original Non-Immigrant "O" visa that was stamped "used" during the transition from tourist to retiree, why is its number not used for that "space on the arrival card for a visa number?"

I got on Obamacare (Medical revisited) based on my lack of income while on my home visit in Southern California. Been putting my newfound medical benefits to all sorts of use (from teeth to colon). Today I went to my CVS pharmacy to drop off my prescription erythromycin 500mg,anti-biotic given by my dentist to keep infection/inflammation at bay after she made 3 fillings on my front teeth.

The pharmacist told me that Medical won't pay for this, and this is a pricey drug.  I said to him, lemme ask my dentist to give me something generic. He said that this is already generic as it can be, but still in the high price bracket. In fact too high he doubted I would want to get it. Since I'm flying back to Thailand this weekend, his comment got me deadly curious. Okay, tell me how much does it cost? Answer: 456 dollars for 30 tablets (3 tablets a day for 10 days). I burst out laughing at this insanity. I can't wait to get back to Thailand and check out the prices of similar drug at my BKK corner drugstore. In the meantime I called my friend Diane in Hawaii, who used to be a SSI recipient (MediCaid beneficiary) to express my disbelief. Before you know it she and I got into a serious argument about Medicare (I'm still blue in the face and she is too, I'm sure ).

While she was using MediCaid she got similar prescription drug sticker shock. That aside, SSA told her that when she gets to the age of 65, she won't be able to apply for Medicare because she has not worked much her whole life. I disagreed and said that your work history has nothing to do with your Medicare eligibility. But before she ever gets to 65 (she's still not there yet), she inherited family money and as a result lost all her SSI/Mecicaid benefits and it's strictly out of pocket from now on. And then she disclosed that her brother who also inherited a big chunk is now a millionaire and still get Medicare, and according to Diane that is because his long work history. In fact his friends ("all millionaires") also get Medicare (she emphatically stressed "free as opposed to buying it") because of their work history as well.

Since I'm not 65 yet this is an area that I have not done much research. But I've been living in Little Saigon (ie Camp Pendleton revisited - for those who remember the VN war era) and most of the VNmese seniors are thriving (for lack of a better word) health-wise thanks to Medicare. But the buzz words around here are: "If you live in a big house you better move to a smaller one... Or if you have more than one house you better deed it onto your kids before Medicare sniffs you out..." In other words you can be too rich to receive Medicare.

So Diane's argument: If you are 65 up and rich and have work history - yes you can get Medicare. " But I (Diane) won't get Medicare ever because I don't have a work history, doesn't matter whether I'm rich or not." She said has researched this high and low.

My argument: Diane's wrong. Her brother and other millionaires must have a work-around something to get free Medicare and I doubt if they have honestly declared their assets (this got Diane foaming at the mouth). Also the point is moot now because she's no longer poor (enough) to get (free) Medicare.

So any TV members with their expertise on this subject please speak up and help us settle our argument (we're still friends and nobody slammed down their phone at the end of our decidedly genteel conversation ). Thank you much in advance.

Thank you all for your inputs. That's what I thought too: have to point out to the folks at the counter my  retirement stamp with the validity date on it, and while we are at it the re-entry permit as well. The main thing is to assure them that I will be let in into Thailand all proper. A seasoned staff may be able to see that for him/herself.

The last time I entered Thailand was 2014, coming from HCM City and flying into BKK with a return ticket (back to HCMC) and no visa. As an American tourist, no problem there. After switching from tourist to retiree status, been living in BKK ever since,  

Fast forward to Sep 2016, I flew back to the US for a home visit. However, I extended my stay and ditched the return ticket to BKK. Now I'm ready to go back to Thailand, have bought a new one-way ticket and will fly out of LAX this coming Sat. This time I have my retirement stamp  good till May 2017 and a valid re-entry permit on my passport.

I just want to check with  other TV members and make sure that all is kosher at boarding time (flying with China Eastern), ie they are not going to ask for a return /onward ticket, etc. Thank you for your input.
 

Thank you Khun gk10002000, as always, clear and informative advice. Much appreciated.

1 hour ago, gk10002000 said:

FYI, while I get my W-2s for payroll by the end of January, but Etrade doesn't put out the 1099s until around Feb 15.  And about 1/2 the time they have issued an updated 1099 later that sometimes had subtle but insignificant differences from the original.  Don't know what your bank or broker will do time-wise

Can I still do the tax return with TaxAct prior to receiving the 1099? I figure since I will be doing it on line all I need is the data (the amount of tax I have paid) which is already stated in my IRA withdrawal report.