Transcript 12/17/2010 - Kat Keating (kmk355) (carryover)

[kmk355]

Thanks! They pay out 30 days after your episode airs, so I'll receive my check in mid-January 2011. I'd been planning to pay taxes upfront just to make things simple, but for this amount of money, it might make sense to keep it around and making interest (can you tell I'm going to be having some accountant chats?).

Jeopardy! says the same thing, but I ended up not having to wait the entire 30 days. And if they pay you before year end, then they get to deduct they payment from their 2010 taxes (assuming Valleycrest is a cash-basis taxpayer), rather than having to wait a year, so they may have some incentive to pay you more quickly.

The "safe harbor" rule I was referring to is fairly simple. Assuming that your 2010 adjusted gross income ("AGI") is less than $150,000, then the sum of your salary withholding and equal and on-time estimated tax payments must be at least as much as your federal income tax liability for 2010. In other words, if your 2010 AGI is $50,000 and your total federal income tax liability for 2010 is $2,000, then if your salary withholding is at least $2,000 in 2011, you won't need to pay the balance of the taxes due until April 2012. If you don't have any salary withholding, you can achieve the same effect by making $500 estimated tax payments in April, June, September, and next January. --Bob

My 2010 income will be below $150,000 -- actually it'll be below $50,000 (sad trombone). I do have withholding, but I'm going to need to go through some forms/paystubs and figure out exactly how much -- I'm not positive how it compares to my liability. I assume favorably, since I tend to estimate those things pretty conservatively; I would've asked them to withhold more rather than less. My 2011 income (not including Millionaire) will be higher than 2010, and withholding should increase appropriately too.

So (although I'm obviously going to double-check) it sounds like I'm good, right?

[tlynn78]

I do feel like if only I'd played a little smarter, I could've kept going and I would have had a shot at getting further questions right

I'd say that's pretty common among most of us who fell short of the 1M$ question. You'll second guess yourself for awhile, but you did great, got your shot at it, (which is more than most do) and I hope you enjoy the heck out of your winnings! Congrats!

t.

[Bob78164]

My 2010 income will be below $150,000 -- actually it'll be below $50,000 (sad trombone). I do have withholding, but I'm going to need to go through some forms/paystubs and figure out exactly how much -- I'm not positive how it compares to my liability. I assume favorably, since I tend to estimate those things pretty conservatively; I would've asked them to withhold more rather than less. My 2011 income (not including Millionaire) will be higher than 2010, and withholding should increase appropriately too.

So (although I'm obviously going to double-check) it sounds like I'm good, right?

Probably. And you can always increase your withholding later in 2011 if your 2010 tax liability proves to be higher than you had expected. (I should note, by the way, that state income tax rules may vary, so you'll want to ascertain whether there is a similar "safe harbor" provision for your state.) --Bob

[MarleysGh0st]

Here's an article about Kat's appearance:

http://darien.patch.com/articles/avid-r ... -game-show

"She did much better than I expected her to do," he said. "From what I understand, only four percent of contestants make at least $50,000."

According to the statistics on 15QA's web site, 13 of 93 contestants have done so, this season, which is 14%. For the first eight seasons, 418 out of 2551 contestants have done so, or 16%.

[kmk355]

Here's an article about Kat's appearance:

http://darien.patch.com/articles/avid-r ... -game-show

"She did much better than I expected her to do," he said. "From what I understand, only four percent of contestants make at least $50,000."

According to the statistics on 15QA's web site, 13 of 93 contestants have done so, this season, which is 14%. For the first eight seasons, 418 out of 2551 contestants have done so, or 16%.

There are a few factual issues with that article -- I e-mailed the writer, Mr. Hutter, awhile ago, so hopefully it'll be updated soon. I had noticed smallish stuff, like my secondary major was "medieval and Renaissance studies," and I work in digital publishing and not textbook publishing. But I didn't catch that statistic, which is probably just proud dad talk!

Do you have a direct link to wwtbam.biz's statistics? I thought I remembered a brief page that said x% won $1,000, y% won $2,000-16,000, z% won $25,000, etc. Because of the formatting, it may have been about the older editions of the game. I would be happy to forward that (and any other current info) to Mr. Hutter too.

[Estonut]

Do you have a direct link to wwtbam.biz's statistics?

Not quite direct, but one click away:

http://www.wwtbam.biz/

Click on "Statistics" on the left edge of the home page.

It is one of many references in the "WWTBAM Bored Reference Thread," which is "sticky-noted" near the top of the Bored.

[kmk355]

Do you have a direct link to wwtbam.biz's statistics?

Not quite direct, but one click away:

http://www.wwtbam.biz/

Click on "Statistics" on the left edge of the home page.

It is one of many references in the "WWTBAM Bored Reference Thread," which is "sticky-noted" near the top of the Bored.

Yes, I did see that, but

I thought I remembered a brief page that said x% won $1,000, y% won $2,000-16,000, z% won $25,000, etc. Because of the formatting, it may have been about the older editions of the game.

Another local newspaper did an article, too -- bonus points for their inclusion of a really flattering picture!

edit: I should probably add it wasn't that I "didn't really care about winning the money" -- I just didn't expect it, and didn't even let myself think about it, because I didn't want to get psyched out! I wasn't thinking about the money seriously; I did take the show seriously, obviously. I had to approach it as "wow, what a cool adventure" rather than "this is my only chance ever to make tons of money OH NO DON'T BLOW IT."

[silvercamaro]

Another local newspaper did an article, too -- bonus points for their inclusion of a really flattering picture!

You are the kid on the sled in Winter Wonderland?

Okay, kidding. As for the Millionaire photo, how hard is it to use a flattering picture of an attractive young woman? You are beautiful. I know this for a fact, as I have seen you on my very own t of the v.