Author Topic: help me understand MAGI and AGI  (Read 1187 times)

kenmoremmm

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help me understand MAGI and AGI
« on: January 11, 2018, 12:58:17 AM »
below are some rough numbers from 2017 for me and my wife:
gross income: 100k / 20k
rental 1 net: -2000
rental 2 net: 13000

what do my MAGI and AGI look like under this simple case?

in 2017, i contributed to a roth 401k + other roths. in 2018, i'm considering switching to a traditional 401k with the hopes it would have tax benefits. given the income and rental income levels above, is it worth it for me to swap to the trad 401k? i see here (https://www.irs.com/articles/what-modified-adjusted-gross-income) that under 100k MAGI and you can deduct passive losses up to 25k, but it doesn't seem like that would apply in my case anyway.

thoughts? thanks!

BTDretire

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Re: help me understand MAGI and AGI
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2018, 08:38:15 AM »
You need to get out your 2016 1040 tax form. I don't what is different for 2017, but I assume not much.
 The AGI is line 37 of Page 1 of the 1040. So it all depends on what you enter into lines 7 through 36. You didn't post enough information to figure it out.

 RE: MAGI will most likely be higher tham AGI, because many deductions you used to figure your AGI must be added back in to figure your MAGI.
 Yes, it looks a bit complicated.

Lake161

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Re: help me understand MAGI and AGI
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2018, 09:55:25 AM »
I made a simple spreadsheet to do the math.  See screenshot below. It’s based on the instructions here: https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-calculate-your-modified-adjusted-gross-income-4047216

seattlecyclone

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Re: help me understand MAGI and AGI
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2018, 10:56:59 AM »
Which MAGI are you referring to? MAGI is just your AGI, Modified by a certain set of rules. The rules differ depending on context. The MAGI you use for determining traditional IRA deductibility is different from the MAGI you use for determining ACA subsidies, and there are likely other MAGIs you might need to compute that use rules that are still different.