AUTHOR: Concerned on 4/11/2026 FIRST: Elaine M. Clements on 4/11 | RECENT: Rob Jennings on 4/25
Comments
My mother died in 2021 and we were due a significant refund on 2020 taxes due to medical expenses. We filed on time but it took two years and mutiple phone calls to resolve it. This was before the Trump cuts. Nothing moved until Biden pumped $80 million more into their budget. Before they woukd not even answer the phone. my only advice is to call every 2 months, take names and badge numbers and if no result call again. one agent told me they had everything they needed but nothing happened. Two months later calling back I wastold they needed X form and the lady stood by the fax machine when I faxed it. The refund arrived in two weeks. oh and keep a joint bank acvout open with mom so they can send the money there even if she passes and you can withdraw it
We paid for our kids basic expemses. Tuition room and board and books. no car. Why? You can live on campus. Certainly no “party expenses”. If you want to party get a job. they were there to get an education, not to get a lot of other things. I dont know what we would have done if they brought home less than A’s, but I would not have continued paying for sub par preformance. I do not think college is so difficult that it is impossible to get a 3.5 GPA, if you are in the library every night till 10 PM. if you can’t handle that get a real
job and see how you like it.
I have read lots of Roth’s stuff, especially his TIPS ladder. I don’t know if you read one of his most moving articles recently about his major health scare with what sounds like an aortic dissection that required major surgery. He has great ideas and I was thinking of talking to him but I am a bit concerned about small firms and who steps up if he cannot anymore. Something to look at for sure.
Thank you Elaine and best wishes. I have read JC’s stuff since his early WSJ days. He was always a great help! I soured on Vanguard a few years ago when they made multiple mistakes in account statements and their technology seemed to fail. Are they better? Do they help with RMDs and the like? I also asked them for a proposal for our finances but they said, while they would be able to custody our existing stocks ( with sig embedded capital gains) they would ignore them in their recommendations and asset allocations. This seemed contradictory.
I have been enough impressed with Claude to pay $17 a month. I have used it to examine several of my Mutual fund postions and compare them. You only get publicly avalible data and there are inaccuracies, but the reports are impressive and save a huge amount of time. I would be careful and limit any identifications. Claude says they save your downloads for training but do not access anything on the computer. Maybe I believe him. My daughter wrote a spreadsheet with RMDs and IRRMAs on it. It is pretty complicated so I will ask Claude to give it a try.
I agree. The new Yearly fee for Quicken seems cheap, given how dependent I am on it. The categories and payees lists remain clunky, but if guess if I spent An afternoon I could clean them up and eliminate all the unuse dones from 15 or 20 years ago!
One other benefit I didn’t appreciate is since I am no longer able to remove these funds for our benefit, I am more likely to invest them in Equities , and not worry about a market decline. We have sent out more than our original investment since we initially funded it Being unable to deduct charitable donations makes funding it with more stock limited, but the $2000 next year will help, although we will probably send that amount out on it’s own. Your $10,000 Apple example would not be deductible unless you were higher than the standard deduction. I don’t really want to fund the DAF again with enough in one year to be able to itemize at this point.
Comments
My mother died in 2021 and we were due a significant refund on 2020 taxes due to medical expenses. We filed on time but it took two years and mutiple phone calls to resolve it. This was before the Trump cuts. Nothing moved until Biden pumped $80 million more into their budget. Before they woukd not even answer the phone. my only advice is to call every 2 months, take names and badge numbers and if no result call again. one agent told me they had everything they needed but nothing happened. Two months later calling back I wastold they needed X form and the lady stood by the fax machine when I faxed it. The refund arrived in two weeks. oh and keep a joint bank acvout open with mom so they can send the money there even if she passes and you can withdraw it
Post: How Far Behind is the IRS?
Link to comment from May 3, 2026
We paid for our kids basic expemses. Tuition room and board and books. no car. Why? You can live on campus. Certainly no “party expenses”. If you want to party get a job. they were there to get an education, not to get a lot of other things. I dont know what we would have done if they brought home less than A’s, but I would not have continued paying for sub par preformance. I do not think college is so difficult that it is impossible to get a 3.5 GPA, if you are in the library every night till 10 PM. if you can’t handle that get a real job and see how you like it.
Post: How much to provide a college student monthly?
Link to comment from May 3, 2026
You have been of great help here continuously, keeping us informed about HD and JC’s legacy. Thanks again!
Post: Financial Planning
Link to comment from April 13, 2026
I have read lots of Roth’s stuff, especially his TIPS ladder. I don’t know if you read one of his most moving articles recently about his major health scare with what sounds like an aortic dissection that required major surgery. He has great ideas and I was thinking of talking to him but I am a bit concerned about small firms and who steps up if he cannot anymore. Something to look at for sure.
Post: Financial Planning
Link to comment from April 13, 2026
Thank you Elaine and best wishes. I have read JC’s stuff since his early WSJ days. He was always a great help! I soured on Vanguard a few years ago when they made multiple mistakes in account statements and their technology seemed to fail. Are they better? Do they help with RMDs and the like? I also asked them for a proposal for our finances but they said, while they would be able to custody our existing stocks ( with sig embedded capital gains) they would ignore them in their recommendations and asset allocations. This seemed contradictory.
Post: Financial Planning
Link to comment from April 12, 2026
yes. there is an app too. free gets you the functionality but you can get limited out. much better than google search too.
Post: Tools/calculators for monthly retirement cash flow and tax estimation
Link to comment from April 11, 2026
I have been enough impressed with Claude to pay $17 a month. I have used it to examine several of my Mutual fund postions and compare them. You only get publicly avalible data and there are inaccuracies, but the reports are impressive and save a huge amount of time. I would be careful and limit any identifications. Claude says they save your downloads for training but do not access anything on the computer. Maybe I believe him. My daughter wrote a spreadsheet with RMDs and IRRMAs on it. It is pretty complicated so I will ask Claude to give it a try.
Post: Tools/calculators for monthly retirement cash flow and tax estimation
Link to comment from April 11, 2026
I agree. The new Yearly fee for Quicken seems cheap, given how dependent I am on it. The categories and payees lists remain clunky, but if guess if I spent An afternoon I could clean them up and eliminate all the unuse dones from 15 or 20 years ago!
Post: Tools/calculators for monthly retirement cash flow and tax estimation
Link to comment from April 11, 2026
One other benefit I didn’t appreciate is since I am no longer able to remove these funds for our benefit, I am more likely to invest them in Equities , and not worry about a market decline. We have sent out more than our original investment since we initially funded it Being unable to deduct charitable donations makes funding it with more stock limited, but the $2000 next year will help, although we will probably send that amount out on it’s own. Your $10,000 Apple example would not be deductible unless you were higher than the standard deduction. I don’t really want to fund the DAF again with enough in one year to be able to itemize at this point.
Post: Why I use a Donor-Advised Fund
Link to comment from April 11, 2026
Thanks for your good work, Howard. You may have done so but can you post what qualifications and training are needed to volunteer for AARP?
Post: Taxes Season 3
Link to comment from April 11, 2026