Great article, Ed. Exercise doesn't have to be painful, overly time consuming, or expensive to produce real benefits, physical and mental. When I was still working as a lawyer, it meant long hours sitting behind a desk. And I also chose to wear a suit and tie every day. But I got in the habit of taking a mid-afternoon break where I'd ditch the coat at least and take a walk. I got a few looks from people wondering about the older man walking around in dress shirt and tie, but it felt great and did me a lot of good. And long ago I realized that, rather than going to a gym, I was much happier doing floor exercises and using dumbbells at home as I watched the PBS News Hour. Now, happily retired, I do more challenging "interval walks" using the hills in our neighborhood as the intervals. My one indulgence: a treadmill for bad weather (or extreme Texas heat) days---but even that's a base model. If you happen to read this, one question: I've recently added a set of resistance bands (around $20) to my weight routine, and I've enjoyed them. What's your opinion of them vs. dumbbells? Final thought: It's really important to make whatever routine you choose at least somewhat enjoyable. If so, you'll be so much more likely to stick with it.
Bill, thanks for your very detailed reply. And thanks for catching my error---I did indeed mean VXUS instead of VTI, and have made the correction. All I can say is I've done my best to input the correct foreign income amounts and from there will put my faith in FreeTaxUSA. If the IRS later questions it, I may have to pay a penalty but don't believe they'll put me in prison. If they do, I'm going to request the one Ghislaine Maxwell's in---close enough to our home that maybe my wife will visit me occasionally.
Bill Perry mentions the IRS matching the Form 1116 with 1099s, and of course that's a big red flag when the figures don't match. A problem I have in regard to this is on the foreign income side. While my 1099s from Vanguard and Schwab clearly state the foreign tax paid, the foreign income is a different story. E.g., my Vanguard 1099 states the total amount of income from VXUS (Total International Stock ETF) in the 1099. But in the Mutual Fund and UIT Supplemental Information, it provides the Foreign Source Income Percentage, as Jim Burrows points out below. I don't know if this latter doc is even part of the 1099 that goes to the IRS. Even if it does, the end calculation of the percentage x the VXUS dividend amount isn't anywhere on the 1099 for the IRS to match to what I input on the Form 1116. With my Schwab 1099, it's even more complicated. I hold an American Fund there which has international holdings. Nowhere in the 1099 does it give the foreign percentage of the dividends, so I have to get that from a worksheet on the American Funds (Capital Group) website. So this end calculation will likewise not appear in the 1099 for the IRS to match to my Form 1116. I guess if red flags go up and I'm the unhappy recipient of a letter audit, I'll get to explain all this to the IRS.
Comments
Great article, Ed. Exercise doesn't have to be painful, overly time consuming, or expensive to produce real benefits, physical and mental. When I was still working as a lawyer, it meant long hours sitting behind a desk. And I also chose to wear a suit and tie every day. But I got in the habit of taking a mid-afternoon break where I'd ditch the coat at least and take a walk. I got a few looks from people wondering about the older man walking around in dress shirt and tie, but it felt great and did me a lot of good. And long ago I realized that, rather than going to a gym, I was much happier doing floor exercises and using dumbbells at home as I watched the PBS News Hour. Now, happily retired, I do more challenging "interval walks" using the hills in our neighborhood as the intervals. My one indulgence: a treadmill for bad weather (or extreme Texas heat) days---but even that's a base model. If you happen to read this, one question: I've recently added a set of resistance bands (around $20) to my weight routine, and I've enjoyed them. What's your opinion of them vs. dumbbells? Final thought: It's really important to make whatever routine you choose at least somewhat enjoyable. If so, you'll be so much more likely to stick with it.
Post: Frugal Fitness
Link to comment from March 14, 2026
Bill, thanks for your very detailed reply. And thanks for catching my error---I did indeed mean VXUS instead of VTI, and have made the correction. All I can say is I've done my best to input the correct foreign income amounts and from there will put my faith in FreeTaxUSA. If the IRS later questions it, I may have to pay a penalty but don't believe they'll put me in prison. If they do, I'm going to request the one Ghislaine Maxwell's in---close enough to our home that maybe my wife will visit me occasionally.
Post: Taxes on foreign stocks
Link to comment from February 26, 2026
Bill Perry mentions the IRS matching the Form 1116 with 1099s, and of course that's a big red flag when the figures don't match. A problem I have in regard to this is on the foreign income side. While my 1099s from Vanguard and Schwab clearly state the foreign tax paid, the foreign income is a different story. E.g., my Vanguard 1099 states the total amount of income from VXUS (Total International Stock ETF) in the 1099. But in the Mutual Fund and UIT Supplemental Information, it provides the Foreign Source Income Percentage, as Jim Burrows points out below. I don't know if this latter doc is even part of the 1099 that goes to the IRS. Even if it does, the end calculation of the percentage x the VXUS dividend amount isn't anywhere on the 1099 for the IRS to match to what I input on the Form 1116. With my Schwab 1099, it's even more complicated. I hold an American Fund there which has international holdings. Nowhere in the 1099 does it give the foreign percentage of the dividends, so I have to get that from a worksheet on the American Funds (Capital Group) website. So this end calculation will likewise not appear in the 1099 for the IRS to match to my Form 1116. I guess if red flags go up and I'm the unhappy recipient of a letter audit, I'll get to explain all this to the IRS.
Post: Taxes on foreign stocks
Link to comment from February 26, 2026
Thanks. That's helpful.
Post: Taxes on foreign stocks
Link to comment from February 21, 2026