Getting a large lump sum of money back from the government at tax time is a bad savings plan. Ask Dave Ramsey. I did it for years not knowing any better. But I'm not calling anyone dumb. See my third sentence. Just think about how they earn intrest off your money instead of you. I don't know about you guys, but I work hard for my money, therefore I want my money to work hard for me. This is why I bought a FORD truck instead of the dodge that I almost bought. Just my opinion, I might be exiled like Raoul.

 

It is a bad savings plan but if I gots money I spends it. Its the only way I can save. In 03 I worked out of town almost all year came home in Nov with 30k in the bank. By Jan. I din't have a whole lot left. But I did take 2 months off. thats prob. where the money went.

 

How much interest would you really earn on that money? Even if for example, the amount of money was about $3,000 and let's just say that you got all that money to start off the year, you would probably only earn about $150 in interest, of which you would have to pay taxes on.

I used to be of the persuasion that I didn't want to get a refund and that I would rather have to pay in the end, but after having to pay almost $1000 each year for the past two years, I decided this year that I would rather just get a big refund and use it to take a vacation or something similar.

Just a different viewpoint and a differing opinion than some others on the forum.

Here's to a rather large return this year !!

 

Don't forget that for taxpayers earning up to 54K in 07, online filing is FREE starting on Jan 11th.

Go to www.irs.gov and click on the link for "free-file"

Steve

 

What little I hope to get back will go into savings. I've been tweaking my witholdings over the past few years since I got married to dial in on oweing or getting refunded as close to $0 as possible. It's really the only way to maximize your in-pocket cash throughout the year.

So I have some to gain a little interest on, so what? Just out there for a rainy day and I don't have it tied up in some material thing in case I REALLY need the cash. I might treat myself to a nice dinner with the family or something, but I won't burn it all at once.