Andy | Saving to Invest

It’s not a refund dummy – it is the IRS returning to you, the amount you sent to them for free

The title of this article sums up a theme from irate tax payers who complain that people should be annoyed when they receive a tax refund, not happy! The premise behind this is that a refund is basically the IRS giving you back your money that you "loaned" the IRS…

IRS tax refund 2022 and Why You May Not Be Getting Your Tax Refund Anytime Soon – System Processing and Payment Delays

5 reasons your tax refund will be delayed

6 Reasons You Should Be Inspired to Save Money

While many people will tell you money isn’t everything, it’s hard to deny that having a bit of it can make life easier and provide peace of mind. With that being said, many of us still find it difficult to motivate ourselves to save. Inspiration is often lost in the…

Best Job Prospects, Occupations and Professions in the Next Decade

I wrote this article (see update below) over 10 years ago on the best jobs for the next decade. It was based on the US BLS data and ended up being pretty accurate. So with the current unemployment situation I thought I would refresh this article based on what is…

10 Ways To Get Out Of Debt Starting Now

Debt is as American as apple pie. It is estimated that 80% of Americans live with debt and that includes $8 trillion in home mortgage debt. Many of us go to work every day simply to pay for products or services that we’ve already received. We can’t help our children…

No Tax Refund or Status After 21 days? Tips On Contacting the IRS For Payment and Processing Updates

As the IRS notes, for nine out of ten tax filers it takes a maximum of 21 days to receive a tax refund (when eligible) after their tax return has been accepted. But this is still just an estimate based on past IRS refund schedules and not a guarantee. Further…

Where Art Thou? 21 Reasons Why Your Tax Refund Could Look Very Different and Why your tax return is still being processed (and what to do about it)!

With tax season in full swing the main source of frustration for most Americans filing taxes in 2018-19 is around their tax refund. Namely why it's taking so long to get paid and subsequently why it is lower than expected There are lots of reasons for this and over the…

Tax Software Upgrade Delays Impacting 2020 Tax Returns and Refund Payments

Technology and Tax Software were supposed to have made tax filing more efficient and refunds (where applicable) faster. But thanks to the slew of tax changes from Trumps' tax code reforms and recent IRS employee cutbacks the software developers at the state and federal tax agencies and at tax software…

Top Reasons for IRS Tax Processing and Refund Delays

If you are frustrated with delays in getting your tax refund and the inability to get a straight answer from the IRS, then take some small solace that you are not alone. In fact per the Taxpayer Advocate Services's Annual Report to Congress this IRS’s Failure to Answer the Right…

Teaching Your Kids How to Care For Money and Manage Their Personal Finances

As adults, we've seen what a lack of financial knowledge does to managing our finances. That's why we need to teach our kids early on how to care for money, so they are less likely to make the financial mistakes that we did. If you don't talk about money, lessons…

Tax Season and IRS Tax Refunds Being Processed (or Not) – Latest Updates and News

Get the latest information on IRS refund processing and direct deposit schedules in this updated article. You can also see these articles for determining your IRS Cycle/Batch code and estimated deposit date via your official IRS tax transcript. The IRS expects more than 70% of taxpayers to get tax refunds…

Obamacare Penalty or ACA Individual Mandate Repealed and Scrapped from 2019 – But Still Applies in 2017 and 2018

While Congressional Republicans were unable to muster the required majorities to pass several versions of House and Senate health care replacement bills, they were able to include a provision to repeal the individual mandate (i.e. the Obamacare penalty) via successfully passing their GOP tax reform bill to support President Trump’s tax reform…

$500 Non-Child Dependent or Flexible Credit in Trump/GOP Tax Reform Bill

The now passed GOP/Trump tax bill contains a little known but important $500 credit for non-child dependents - e.g elderly or disabled dependents or children over 17. This credit is to provide some relief to those families who will lose the now defunct personal exemption and are not eligible for the expanded Child Tax…

Losing the $4,050 Personal Exemption But Doubling The Standard Deduction

As part of the GOP tax reform bill to support President Trump’s tax reform agenda the Personal exemption is being fully eliminated in 2018. This will be reflected when you file your taxes in 2019. The $4,050 personal exemption in 2018 (which was unchanged from 2017) can be taken for yourself, your spouse,…