Accredited investor income test

[Simon Stahl]

Hi

I was wondering how exactly I should understand the accredited investor income test. The test states:

To be an accredited investor, a person must have an annual income exceeding $200,000, or $300,000 for joint income, for the last two years

Does that mean that as soon as you are married, you need $300k income, not matter if you have one or two incomes. Of can you still use the $200k personal income, if only one person alone makes that much?

Thanks, I'd appreciate any clarification.

[Steve Hall]

@Simon Stahl First, you did not quote Paragraph 6 of Regulation D of Rule 501 correctly: "Any natural person who had an individual income in excess of $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with that person's spouse in excess of $300,000 in each of those years and has a reasonable expectation of reaching the same income level in the current year;"

If you make $220k per year, for the last 2 years, and you marry someone with no income, that does not mean that you are NOT accredited now. Your spouse would not be accredited, but you still would be.

There are several other ways to be accredited as well. Remember though, just because you are accredited does not mean you you are qualified to play with the big dogs.