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Jewish World Review Feb. 16, 2010 / 2 Adar 5770 Your tax refund is a waste of money By Gail Marks Jarvis http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) If you are feeling proud of the tax refund you snared after a weekend of working on taxes, I have some bad news for you. You might have blown it. Although people love getting refunds, a refund typically means you wasted your money. Why? When you get a refund, it means you paid too much in taxes throughout the previous year. So at the end of the year, the government has to send some of it back to you after you file your tax return. That, of course, means that the government has had the benefit throughout the year of spending and investing your money. And you didn't get the full value of the money you worked so hard to earn. Consider this: Let's say you just found out that you are entitled to a $3,000 tax refund. That means you overpaid your taxes by $250 a month during the year. And you made the government happy, because Uncle Sam invested that money and earned interest while you got by each month with less of your own money. Now think, instead, about how you could have used $250 a month to get rid of your credit card debt in 2009. If you don't pay off your cards completely each month, you are being cruel to yourself — maybe making yourself pay 25 cents a year for every $1 you spent. But you could have been more kind to yourself. If you had received $250 a month instead of letting the government have it, you could have paid $250 more than the minimum payment on your credit cards. That's the way to remove the noose from your neck fast. Or, let's assume that you put $250 a month from your paychecks into a savings account. And around mid-year you invested the $1,500 you accumulated into a CD paying 3.5 percent. Instead of getting the $3,000 refund from the government after filing your taxes, you will have a total of about $3,050 because of the interest you earned. That's not a huge amount of money, of course, but it's better than wasting it. Or to think of it another way, if you saw me on the street today, and I handed you a $50 bill, would you be happy or uninterested? Of course, this gets even better the longer you keep your money invested. Let's go back to the original $1,500 and assume it stays in a CD for five years. That will give you about $1,780. It would be even more if you invested $250 every month, but I'm assuming you spent about half of your money. Incidentally, if you invest $1,500 this year and another $1,500 for the next 20 year, you will have close to $50,000 in your CDs — maybe a lot more as interest rates go up. So think about that when you do receive your refund. Invest it now, and add more money to it each month. Now, it's important to act so you don't let Uncle Sam have this money instead of you during 2010. 1. Contact your payroll office at work today and tell them you want to change your W-4. That's the form that tells the government how much of your pay to withhold from your paychecks. Add exemptions to the form so you keep more money. But don't overdo it. Although you don't want a refund when you do your taxes; you also don't want to find out next February that you need to send Uncle Sam a check for the 2010 tax year. This calculator will help. 2. Make a plan to invest the money you save. You can put it in the bank in a CD, and find the best interest rates at www.bankrate.com by clicking on the CD tab at the top of the page. Better yet, if you have a 401(k) at work, start putting extra money in that with each paycheck. Maybe you think you can't afford to do this. But changing your W-4 will leave you with extra money to invest each payday. And, frankly, you just proved to yourself that you can live with less of your money. You did it all of 2009, and your refund proves it. Now, make that money work for you upfront. One final note: If you did get a juicy refund this year, make it count. Allow yourself to use maybe 10 percent to treat yourself; then use the rest to pay off credit cards, set up an emergency fund, or start an IRA to save for your future. For more help on investing a 401(k) or an IRA go here. ——— ON THE WEB: —Interest compounding calculator: http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound _interest_calculator.htm —Credit-card debt calculator: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calculators/creditcards/reduce_credit_card_debt.asp Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. Gail Marks Jarvis is a personal finance columnist for the Chicago Tribune and author of "Saving for Retirement without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery." Comment by clicking here. Previously: 02/06/10: Changes to credit card rules won't perfectly protect consumers 09/24/09: Recession's end doesn't make stock picking any easier 08/25/09: Weigh risks of being overly conservative with investments 07/06/09: Fear can force better investment planning 06/10/09: Best stock buys passed quickly, even for pros 05/12/09: On Wall Street, signs plant a seed of hope 04/08/09: Analysts debate the future of the rally 03/19/09: Gold unlikely to pan out as cure-all 02/29/09: Housing credit could provide sizable boost 02/19/09: Rebalancing being put in different light 02/04/09: Diversification doesn't always offer insulation 01/27/09: Taking steps can help regain some control 01/20/09: How to save for college during a recession 01/12/09: Bonds still risky option to stocks 12/24/08: Some predict mid-2009 for return to investing joy 12/09/08: A small dose of short funds may be useful 11/11/08: Mutual funds can get caught in downward spiral 10/27/08: Investors can bounce back from even the worst of times 10/20/08: Want to sell? Look at 401(k), but don't leap 10/16/08: Want to be like Buffett? There are ways 09/29/08: Money protection only goes so far, so know the risks 08/26/08: Retail stocks may not be best fit for investors 08/20/08: Rear-view mirror investing can be dangerous to a portfolio 07/01/08: What do we do? My daughter didn't get a scholarship 02/25/08: Before abandoning your mutual fund 02/14/08: Dirty little secret of some funds may be haunting 01/29/08: Sorting out the stock market 01/03/08: One word for 2008 crystal-ball gazers: Caution 12/11/07: ‘Buy and hold’ isn't necessarily tried and true 11/26/07: Translating the falling dollar's implications for investors 11/13/07: Gradual retirement may not be key to happiness 11/05/07: Rate cut won't offer immunity to investors 10/29/07: Employers set to help workers save in 401(k) accounts 10/22/07: Playing bounce may be costly to stock investors 10/10/07: Investors find boring often can be fruitful 10/01/07: Make up lost time with swift, smart action 09/24/07: Balance is key for investing by retirees 09/18/07: Homeowners who wait see options fade 09/04/07: Easy matter to rate fund's performance 08/27/07: Mortgage mess could be good for savers 08/17/07: Small stocks are coming with large caveats © 2007, Chicago Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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