I can’t believe I just said that. Well if you asked me a month ago if I thought it would be 90, sunny and no rain in Massachusetts for two days in a row I would have said no there as well. It’s not that I don’t agree with some things she says it’s more about the way she makes blanket recommendations to people after them talking for two minutes. I also don’t really like that her recommendations always support her advertisers but I understand that. I just hope other people do as well.
The article I read was in the Sunday MetroWest Daily Newspaper. Anyone out there still read the newspaper? Suze Orman was on the cover of USA Weekend and her article was titled “Suze’s top 6 tips“. Go read the article.
So from her article I am going to give you three things to do to find money.
1. Save a couple thousand dollars a year on property taxes The rules vary from town to town. So visit the assessor’s office and ask for your property record card. Also ask for the process to get your house reassessed due to declining market value. There is usually an application that is due by December 31st and decisions are made in January. Now that you have the property card review it to make sure the information on your house is correct. Then go on zillow.com and see how the assessed value compares. If you feel the two are different, the next step would to be to hire a real estate broker to do a sales comparison or a licensed appraisor. The simply follow the process of your town.
2. Save a few hundred dollars a year on your insurance Dig out your homeowners and auto insurance policies. Call up your insurance broker and make an appointment. If you don’t like or trust your own agent, ask your friends and family for the name of a good broker and schedule an appointment with them. Don’t waste your time by meeting with someone you don’t think will help. Now you want to ask about how much you can save by having both policies with the same company. Then look into raising your deductibles to $1,000. (side note: if you get in a lot of accidents or dents and dings on your car this might not be good for you) Have the broker review your policies and shop them around for you.
3. Stop giving the IRS an interest free loanDo you get a large tax refund? If so, contact your human resources or payroll department at work and ask to increase your exemptions. Instead of getting a lump sum back next April you will see an increase in your paychecks that will allow you to save this money and earn interest on it rather than letting the IRS do it. This is also a great way to help pay down some outstading debt you might have. Don’t spend this money though, save or pay down debt.
There are three easy ways for your to find money. This could easily result in you having a $2-3000 extra each year to keep and enjoy. I also want to commend Suze Orman for telling people to not max out their 401(k). I think this is great advice and couldn’t agree more. What do you think?
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
YES! Love your comment on not giving the IRS an interest free loan.
I’m always frustrated by people that can’t wait for their tax refund and then blow it on something dumb. Get your money now, manage it and stop getting a refund. Don’t you understand it would be better to pay a little in taxes every April? Nice CJ!
I, too, find Suze’s advice to be overly generic, but there is some decent information in there, as well. Why are you opposed to maxing out a 401 (k)? I assumed that diverting as much ordinary income as possible into a tax deferred account would make the most sense, but my wife disagrees. What are your thoughts?
John Scott Smith
@JohnScottSmith
My wife says that there aren’t enough options offered on a 401 (k), and she actually sites Suze for why not to max it out. (Not kidding, and funny as it relates to this article!) She believes that by investing, yourself, privately, you will have more investments from which to choose.
My opinion is that we generally DON’T invest “on our own” so it’s easier to just dump it into the 401, PLUS I would like to minimize our tax consequences. My goal is to save as much as possible for retirement, now, since we have a two year old and another one on the way. Expenses will be coming soon enough: I’d like to save, aggressively, while it’s still comfortable to do so.
FWIW: in addition to fully funding my wife’s 401, we also max out our Roth IRA’s every year. I am the 100% shareholder of an S-corp.
John Scott Smith
@JohnScottSmith
Thank you Matt. I can feel your frustration from the comment. It’s as if people think they are doing something right, like scamming the system when they get a refund. They don’t realize it’s their own money.
I completely agree with you about Suze. What I worry about are the people that can’t tell the generic verus the good stuff. I think that’s a great question about the 401k. I’m not going to answer it right now because I think I’ll do a post on it soon and keep you waiting. I love that your wife disagrees. Do I get to hear her side before the post? Or are you going to wait and compare?