Tax Refunds

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

Take you refund and divide it by the number of paychecks you get. That will tell you how much less you should have taken out. Then talk to your firms accounting people and see how you can adjust to hit that number. No need to pay someone for it.

Yes, any good company and accounting team should easily be able to do this for you.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[pettie4sox]

7 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Take you refund and divide it by the number of paychecks you get. That will tell you how much less you should have taken out. Then talk to your firms accounting people and see how you can adjust to hit that number. No need to pay someone for it.

Yeah I changed jobs last year and my salary increased substantially.  I work for a big corporation and they actually contract out HR services to ADP.  Maybe they could assist, but I'm not holding my breath.

[southsider2k5]

1 minute ago, pettie4sox said:

Yeah I changed jobs last year and my salary increased substantially.  I work for a big corporation and they actually contract out HR services to ADP.  Maybe they could assist, but I'm not holding my breath.

The company itself is in charge of your withholdings even if they sub it out to ADP. Someone should still be able to help you.  If you don't know who, ask HR and go from there.

[illinilaw08]

1 hour ago, raBBit said:

Lots of student loan talk here. I am curious to what kind of rates you guys renegotiated to if you did renegotiate.

I had some grad loans at 6%-7%  and I refi-ed them down to 4.3%. That 4.3% is essentially what I am looking at for my WACC. 

My credit score is over 750 and the only knocks are that I haven't paid enough of my debt off and I have a lot of credit pulls (student loan refi's, cc's, bought a car, refi of car loan, etc.). 

When I did renegotiated my student loans initially, my credit score was lower and I was looking at about 60k left where I am now closer to 35k.  I guess the question being, and I know it's specific to individuals, have any of you found it worthwhile to refinance your loans in a situation like mine? I am just not sure there are any refi options available under 4%. Also not sure sure if saving say .7% is worst the hassle and credit pull. 

Rabbit, I'm at 4.5% on all my grad school loans.  I looked into refinancing again, but - like you mention - it wasn't going to save me enough to make it worth the hassle.  

 

 

[pettie4sox]

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

The company itself is in charge of your withholdings even if they sub it out to ADP. Someone should still be able to help you.  If you don't know who, ask HR and go from there.

Thanks for the input, both of you.

It's wise to wait until the next year to do this, correct?

[southsider2k5]

Just now, pettie4sox said:

Thanks for the input, both of you.

It's wise to wait until the next year to do this, correct?

Do it now. They can still get you fixed up for 19 filed in 20. You are probably only 2-3 checks into this tax year.

[pettie4sox]

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

Do it now. They can still get you fixed up for 19 filed in 20. You are probably only 2-3 checks into this tax year.

Alright thanks.

[kevo880]

2 hours ago, raBBit said:

Lots of student loan talk here. I am curious to what kind of rates you guys renegotiated to if you did renegotiate.

I had some grad loans at 6%-7%  and I refi-ed them down to 4.3%. That 4.3% is essentially what I am looking at for my WACC. 

My credit score is over 750 and the only knocks are that I haven't paid enough of my debt off and I have a lot of credit pulls (student loan refi's, cc's, bought a car, refi of car loan, etc.). 

When I did renegotiated my student loans initially, my credit score was lower and I was looking at about 60k left where I am now closer to 35k.  I guess the question being, and I know it's specific to individuals, have any of you found it worthwhile to refinance your loans in a situation like mine? I am just not sure there are any refi options available under 4%. Also not sure sure if saving say .7% is worst the hassle and credit pull. 

Rabbit, curious the best way to go about refinancing. I think it would help me knock out my student loans a lot faster.

I have about $25k through Navient between 6-7.2%, about $11k through Mohela at about 6.8%, and another $2600 at about 5.2% through Discover.

If I bank through Chase do you recommend just going in there to talk to them about consolidating or how do you find the best way to do it?

Edited February 12, 2019 by kevo880

[The Sir]

38 minutes ago, pettie4sox said:

1st point:  Who demands to get bailed out of student loans?  I think the interest rate should be a big fat zero.  The government should not be in the business of making money off its citizens.  The fact that you paid $1900 in student loan interest is criminal.  The system needs to be overhauled for this various reason.  $1900 is a lot of money to middle class and poor people and that could be used to infuse the economy accordingly.

 

2nd point:  Maybe I'm idiotic but I think a tax break should be you paying less taxes, not you getting your "refund" back little by little during the year.  My refund last year was the similar to the one I got this year except I made almost 40K more.  Something seems off about that.

I hear lots of people talking about student loan forgiveness. If they just want interest rates abolished, then there’s a communication issue. Also, my wife signed on at those rates. Who’s fault is that? We own it.

My income is all over the place, so it’s hard to measure. Think wife and I both got about $80 more a month. So just shy of $2000 more a year. I haven’t filed yet but I’ve heard refunds have fallen by approximately 15%. I’m not going to say how much I’m expecting, but if that is indeed the decrease amount, I made money from the new tax law. Period.

[pettie4sox]

2 minutes ago, The Sir said:

I hear lots of people talking about student loan forgiveness. If they just want interest rates abolished, then there’s a communication issue. Also, my wife signed on at those rates. Who’s fault is that? We own it.

My income is all over the place, so it’s hard to measure. Think wife and I both got about $80 more a month. So just shy of $2000 more a year. I haven’t filed yet but I’ve heard refunds have fallen by approximately 15%. I’m not going to say how much I’m expecting, but if that is indeed the decrease amount, I made money from the new tax law. Period.

Personally, I think they they need to make school cheaper.  There is no reason you should go into your career caring a giant debt for trying to better your life.  Student loan forgiveness is for teachers I believe and it's very difficult to obtain if I'm not mistaken.  I don't know many people that are crying for a benefit for teachers when they are not teachers.

[The Sir]

6 minutes ago, pettie4sox said:

Personally, I think they they need to make school cheaper.  There is no reason you should go into your career caring a giant debt for trying to better your life.  Student loan forgiveness is for teachers I believe and it's very difficult to obtain if I'm not mistaken.  I don't know many people that are crying for a benefit for teachers when they are not teachers.

With the exception of that one loan for my wife (and the monthly payment isn’t a burden at all), we have no education debt. Hell, I actually made a profit when I got my master’s from a private uni. There’s ways to ace it; people should find them.

Edited February 12, 2019 by The Sir

[pettie4sox]

1 minute ago, The Sir said:

With the exception of that one loan for my wife (and the monthly payment isn’t a burden at all), we have no education debt. Hell, I actually made a profit when I got my master’s from a private uni. There’s ways to ace it; people should find them.

Normally your statement makes sense but not everyone has similar opportunities to ace it.  That's why we need to level the playing field and then you can say, "Well everyone has the same opportunity!", because right now that is pure rubbish.

[The Sir]

1 minute ago, pettie4sox said:

Normally your statement makes sense but not everyone has similar opportunities to ace it.  That's why we need to level the playing field and then you can say, "Well everyone has the same opportunity!", because right now that is pure rubbish.

I disagree. With the exception of people with various disabilities, anyone, from any race, from any class, has the opportunity to do what I did and get two degrees from prestigious schools, essentially for free. The answer might be that they aren’t willing to seize the opportunity, but they are certainly physically and mentally capable of it.

[ptatc]

6 minutes ago, pettie4sox said:

Personally, I think they they need to make school cheaper.  There is no reason you should go into your career caring a giant debt for trying to better your life.  Student loan forgiveness is for teachers I believe and it's very difficult to obtain if I'm not mistaken.  I don't know many people that are crying for a benefit for teachers when they are not teachers.

The issue is that the states are continually decreasing their funding for the schools. So even if you want to keep expenses the same, the schools need to get money from somewhere. For example, the small school I teach at received about 40 million from the state in 2008. In 2018 we received 22 million. Where is that decreased revenue going to come from?

[pettie4sox]

3 minutes ago, ptatc said:

The issue is that the states are continually decreasing their funding for the schools. So even if you want to keep expenses the same, the schools need to get money from somewhere. For example, the small school I teach at received about 40 million from the state in 2008. In 2018 we received 22 million. Where is that decreased revenue going to come from?

The state should not be reducing the funding for their institutions.  That is a good use of tax dollars IMO.  I would give the schools whatever they need to be an optimal machine.

[Boopa1219]

Not tax return related but I’m building a website and recently bought a LLC. After talking to some other filmmakers/artist and listening to some podcast, I realized that I can declare myself as self employed. I started using Quickbooks and it’s been incredible. If you’re self employed, I recommend it. 

[pettie4sox]

10 minutes ago, The Sir said:

I disagree. With the exception of people with various disabilities, anyone, from any race, from any class, has the opportunity to do what I did and get two degrees from prestigious schools, essentially for free. The answer might be that they aren’t willing to seize the opportunity, but they are certainly physically and mentally capable of it.

We can agree to disagree.  I don't really know your life or your experiences but my experience has lead me to believe the opposite.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

16 minutes ago, The Sir said:

I disagree. With the exception of people with various disabilities, anyone, from any race, from any class, has the opportunity to do what I did and get two degrees from prestigious schools, essentially for free. The answer might be that they aren’t willing to seize the opportunity, but they are certainly physically and mentally capable of it.

This is complete nonsense. 

You clearly have no idea about the differences between education at good and bad elementary/middle and high schools.

A lot of kids do not have a computer or internet. They dont have updated text books. Their classrooms are difficult to focus in as many kids arent their to learn. There is genuine fear about being the smart/book nerd kid at some CPS schools. Everyone does not have the same opportunity as you. Some people who come for a lot or even middle class up bringing have a really difficult time understanding how lucky they were. Frequently they accredit their success to their hard work - completely ignoring the immense opportunity they had and were given.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[Soxnfins]

39 minutes ago, The Sir said:

I hear lots of people talking about student loan forgiveness. If they just want interest rates abolished, then there’s a communication issue. Also, my wife signed on at those rates. Who’s fault is that? We own it.

My income is all over the place, so it’s hard to measure. Think wife and I both got about $80 more a month. So just shy of $2000 more a year. I haven’t filed yet but I’ve heard refunds have fallen by approximately 15%. I’m not going to say how much I’m expecting, but if that is indeed the decrease amount, I made money from the new tax law. Period.

In general, the problem with student loan forgiveness is that no one is granted it under that program. As of 9/30 only 300 applications & 96 borrowers have been approved for student loan forgiveness for public service.  It's not practical and it's essentially a 99% failure rate.  The people that are banking on that are consistently setting themselves up for disappointment.  

The student loan crisis is really due to the government, is giving an unlimited supply, in any amount, using the taxpayers money, of loans to a person that is just fresh out of high school with limited or no income restrictions.  Obviously everyone has a right to go to any school of their choosing, and that shouldn't be denied, but their has to be a limit on what the government lends out to kids.  It will eventually trickle down to education becoming more affordable and less of a burden on the taxpayers.  That's just my .02 on the matter and where I stand.  I took out $35,000 worth of student loans for school, which I don't even see how the government would allow for me to borrow even that much for such a limited income.  It worked out so far, but something has to give.

Don't mean to get off topic here.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2019 by Soxnfins

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

3 minutes ago, Soxnfins said:

In general, the problem with student loan forgiveness is that no one is granted it under that program. As of 9/30 only 300 applications & 96 borrowers have been approved for student loan forgiveness for public service.  It's not practical and it's essentially a 99% failure rate.  The people that are banking on that are consistently setting themselves up for disappointment.  

The student loan crisis is really due to the government, is giving an unlimited supply, in any amount, using the taxpayers money, of loans to a person that is just fresh out of high school with limited or no income restrictions.  Obviously everyone has a right to go to any school of their choosing, and that shouldn't be denied, but their has to be a limit on what the government lends out to kids.  It will eventually trickle down to education becoming more affordable and less of a burden on the taxpayers.  That's just my .02 on the matter and where I stand.  I took out $35,000 worth of student loans for school, which I don't even see how the government would allow for me to borrow even that much for such a limited income.  It worked out so far, but something has to give.

Don't mean to get off topic here.

 

 

Because student loans are the government investing in their own people. It's an investment loan granted by the government under the premise that an educated country is a more prosperous one and that college leads to higher earnings to pay you back.

[ptatc]

10 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

This is complete nonsense. 

You clearly have no idea about the differences between education at good and bad elementary/middle and high schools.

A lot of kids do not have a computer or internet. They dont have updated text books. Their classrooms are difficult to focus in as many kids arent their to learn. There is genuine fear about being the smart/book nerd kid at some CPS schools. Everyone does not have the same opportunity as you. Some people who come for a lot or even middle class up bringing have a really difficult time understanding how lucky they were. Frequently they accredit their success to their hard work - completely ignoring the immense opportunity they had and were given.

This is mostly due to Illinois being one of only a few states left that mostly fund education with local taxes. The more tax money the better the local school is. Most states take all of the taxes for education in one fund then disperse it to schools around the state.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

7 minutes ago, ptatc said:

This is mostly due to Illinois being one of only a few states left that mostly fund education with local taxes. The more tax money the better the local school is. Most states take all of the taxes for education in one fund then disperse it to schools around the state.

That's not really a "better" system imo.

[Soxnfins]

14 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Because student loans are the government investing in their own people. It's an investment loan granted by the government under the premise that an educated country is a more prosperous one and that college leads to higher earnings to pay you back.

Government using our money though, which is my hold up.  If they were truly investing in us, they'd figure out some sort of program that is actually funded by them or that is less regulated.  The problem is that certain types of degrees don't allow for a higher income potential, but that falls on the person. 

Edited February 12, 2019 by Soxnfins

[The Sir]

12 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

This is complete nonsense. 

You clearly have no idea about the differences between education at good and bad elementary/middle and high schools.

A lot of kids do not have a computer or internet. They dont have updated text books. Their classrooms are difficult to focus in as many kids arent their to learn. There is genuine fear about being the smart/book nerd kid at some CPS schools. Everyone does not have the same opportunity as you. Some people who come for a lot or even middle class up bringing have a really difficult time understanding how lucky they were. Frequently they accredit their success to their hard work - completely ignoring the immense opportunity they had and were given.

Give me a f’in break.

I work at one of those high schools. I know all about that environment. Those kids still have the opportunity to do what I did. Some take it, some don’t. Their choice.

I’m really over this contemporary idea that just because my parents didn’t work two jobs, and we got to go on cool vacations, my current success and security in life came from something other than my hard work. I graduated college with no savings and a bunch of student loans. I now have a ton in savings and no loan debt. Who did that? ME.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

4 minutes ago, The Sir said:

Give me a f’in break.

I work at one of those high schools. I know all about that environment. Those kids still have the opportunity to do what I did. Some take it, some don’t. Their choice.

I’m really over this contemporary idea that just because my parents didn’t work two jobs, and we got to go on cool vacations, my current success and security in life came from something other than my hard work. I graduated college with no savings and a bunch of student loans. I now have a ton in savings and no loan debt. Who did that? ME.

Once again... complete nonsense. If I give you $1000 to invest, sure you could turn that into $10,000 or $100,000 - everyone has the same opportunity... but if someone else was given $50,000 they have a much better chance to turn it into $100,000. Both were given an opportunity but one opportunity put them in a much better position.

You teach in those schools - or whatever you do. You have no idea what it's like to be a teenager growing up and developing an environment that tries to suppress their desire to learn.

You were granted privileges those kids never were yet you want to judge them for not overcoming things you've never experienced it. Its nonsense.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Look at Ray Ray Run