Andy | Saving to Invest

I Bought My First Short-Term US Treasury Bill For a Better Return Than CDs and High Yield Savings Accounts

With short-term interest spiking thanks to the Federal reserve's aggressive rate hiking cycle, the yield on short term treasuries have reached levels not seen in several years. In fact, the rates for the 1 year and 2 year treasury bonds are much higher than the average APY on the highest…

Faster Tax Refunds in 2023 With More IRS Agents and System Upgrades

[November Update] With additional funding in place now, the IRS has now hired nearly 5,000 people across their operations and taxpayer assistance centers to deal with filing backlogs, delayed processing and customer service issues. Along with a new IRS commissioner (Danny Werfel) in 2023, the IRS is gearing up for…

File Your late 2019 or 2020 Tax Return For a $750 Penalty Relief Refund Rebate

Given ongoing processing delays, pandemic constraints, the IRS is providing a one-time relief payment for penalty fees they charged related to late filings of 2019 or 2020 federal returns. The total value of these penalties is estimated at $1.2 billion, meaning millions of tax filers will be getting a IRS refund…

IRS Tax Filing Extension Deadline – When Will I Get My Refund or What If Owe The IRS More Money

The date for filing a tax return filing extension for the current tax season is April 15th. Maine and Massachusetts have 2 extra days due to state holidays. Not filing for an extension or not paying your tax liability could mean some stiff penalties. Given the ongoing IRS processing delays,…

Going to Local IRS office and Talking face-to-face To Get Updates on My Tax Return Processing and Refund Payment Status

With pandemic restrictions easing, many IRS offices are reopening to help tax filers struggling to get updates on their tax returns or who have been waiting weeks/months to get their refund payment, including missing stimulus checks and new tax credits. While the IRS says to check online for the latest…

Understanding IRS Tax Transcript Codes 290 and 291 – Additional Tax Assessed or Refund Adjustment

Folks who have been waiting for a long time on their tax return processing and refund status may see transaction code 290 and 291 on their (free) IRS tax transcript once processing is moved forward by the IRS. Per the screenshot below, transaction code 290 will generally be accompanied by…

$10,000 to $20,000 Student Loan Debt Relief for College Educated Americans – Qualification and Application Guidelines

The Department of Education (DoE) has now provided guidelines and the beta application/website for the one-time Federal Student Loan Debt Relief program. You can see the application, eligibility criteria and how to check debt relief status in the sections below It is recommended that applications be done via the Federal…

$1,200 to $14,000 Clean Energy Homeowner Tax Credits and Rebates in 2023 Under Inflation Reduction Act

Under the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), several new clean energy tax credits and subsidies were funded and/or expanded into the next decade. The goal of these extended and expanded payments is to "green-ify" homes (zero net carbon emission) and make them more energy efficient, which means fewer greenhouse…

2024 Electric Vehicle Tax Credit – Extending the EV Clean Car Rebate For New and Used Autos

Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the EV Tax Credit was extended for several more years. It will also be expanded to cover both new and used cars. The original EV tax credit, known as the plug-in electric vehicle credit, has been rebranded to the Clean Vehicle Credit (CVC) under…

Will Extra $80 billion of IRS Funding Be Repealed in 2023? Republican Defunding Bill

[Updated January 2023 following Republican control of Congress] With Republicans now controlling the House of Representatives, they have proposed a measure to defund the $80 billion of IRS funding (over 10 years) that was included in the Inflation Reduction Act as discussed in earlier updates below. The house measure to…

2025 vs 2026 Social Security COLA: Latest Updates & Forecasts

This article provides updates on the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) over the last few years and predictions for the coming year. You can see more on the final 2025 COLA (2.5%) below. COLA is particularly significant for over 71 million Americans, especially retirees, as it directly affects their Social Security and…

2022 State Stimulus Tax Rebates May Delay Your IRS Refund in 2023 – Latest News and Updates on Federal Tax Exclusion

Over the last few years millions of people got used to stimulus checks and government relief programs to bail them out of tough financial situations. With rising inflation hitting the pocketbooks of nearly every individual and business, governments are back to handing out free money to those who qualify -…

What Does the Latest Fed Rate Increase Mean For Mortgage, Savings and Credit Card Interest Rates

There is little doubt we are well into an extended interest rate tightening cycle to fight rampant inflation with the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) aggressively raising short-term federal fund rates. This is in turn affects many other short and longer term product rates (e.g Mortgages) which directly impact…

IRS Letter/Notice CP11, CP12, CP13 and CP14 For Refund Adjustments Or Additional Tax Liability

While the IRS sends lots of notices/letters during the year, common ones related to IRS adjustments made to your tax return are in the CP11 to CP14 range. These notices are mainly related to calculation errors found in your tax return that the IRS was able to adjust. As a…