Alright, obviously I’m going to have to speak with a tax professional (and, um, file late), but if somebody here could give me a vague idea of where I stand and what I can expect, it would be much appreciated.
Late last year we finally cashed out my college fund. I graduated five years ago, but I’ve been deferring the student loan payments until recently (total debt approximately $25K before any payments). 12-15 years ago my mother invested roughly $10K in the stock market, and we cashed out roughly $42K. The investments were in her name, but when she cashed out she had the brokerage firm cut a check in my name, and the money hit my checking account. After the new year I gave $11K to my stepfather to help with his (frankly horrifying) tax problem, used $8.5K (also after the new year) to pay for a year’s rent, and have been making incremental student loan payments with the remainder (about $1K a month).
Again, I’ll certainly have to speak with an accountant, but if anyone could give me some idea about the answers to the following questions that’d be great:
– What kind of capital gains liability are we looking at?
– Whose liability is it, legally?
– How will my student loan debt factor in, generally?
– What are the implications of my $11K gift to my stepfather?
– Any obvious considerations I seem to be forgetting?
– Any general advice, aside from the obvious (“Get thee to a CPA”)?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.