053R | End of Year Checklist

6 thoughts on “053R | End of Year Checklist”

1. Awesome. First time commenting and I get to be the first comment on this week’s Roundup. So, I believe it was in this episode (I listen in the car and don’t have a good way to take notes) that Jonathan mentioned he was looking for a way to “hack” an HSA. I think it was centered around keeping track of medical bills (or any qualified medical expense) so he could reimburse himself from his HSA. So, I wanted to share what I do. I’ve had an HSA from my second year of work because the PPO+HSA plan option had the lowest premiums and for my family situation (basically as long as you covered more than just yourself) ended up costing less than all the other options no matter what your total medical expenses for the year. Since the beginning, I’ve always paid for medical expenses out of pocket (to get meager credit card cash back – I just started with FI and travel hacking through your podcast a few weeks ago) and then immediately reimbursed myself from my HSA. This method almost always got the cash into my bank account before the credit card bill came due, so I wasn’t even fronting the cost for huge bills like the delivery costs for my three children. This helped me with organization because I didn’t have to find all of the bills/receipts later in the year to pay myself back. I then typically filed all of these so they are available should I get audited. I have also always maxed my HSA (though I don’t plan to contribute next year as I’ve got $10k in the account already and want to focus on paying off debt) for the tax benefits/unexpected medical bill cushion. Hope this addresses your dilemma and helps in some way.

2. Good episode. I’m a fan of TaxCaster as well for tax planning. The new version was just released a week or two back (tax year 2017 for filings by April of 2018).

   For the curious, I’ve spent countless hours modelling TaxCaster in spreadsheet form to more clearly illustrate the economic impact of each marginal dollar earned or each marginal dollar sheltered. The sheet can be downloaded here: https://www.frugalprofessor.com/updated-tax-calculator/

   My sheet calculates the true effective marginal tax rate rather than the statutory marginal tax rate that TaxCaster produces, which is economically meaningless.

   • I forgot to mention that your readers might enjoy this post as well: https://www.frugalprofessor.com/hierarchy-of-savings/, which was related to what you discussed in the podcast.

3. Excellent podcast, as usual!

   With the proposed tax changes of the standard deduction being raise and my living in a high property tax state (Illinois) one thing I’m doing before the end of the year is to pre-pay my 2017 property taxes, which is usually due in 8/2018. This will allow me to raise my itemized deduction for 2017 taxes and then still claim the standard deduction in 2018. I don’t make enough to be hit by the AMT, so I don’t think there will be a downside to this (since the property tax has to be paid sooner or later anyhow), except for missing out on a small amount of interest which I might earn otherwise. Wondering what other listeners think.

   • This is an excellent idea, one that I spent an hour pondering yesterday. If you’re not in AMT territory, this will benefit you greatly. It’s like getting a 30% discount on your property taxes due next year.

     For those in AMT territory, you can still accelerate charitable contributions that you would have made next year. Contribute by Dec 31 to get the deduction. As Dom mentions, most of us won’t itemize in future tax years. 30% of taxpayers itemize today, while only 5% will itemize after the law is implemented, which means goodbye mortgage interest, property tax, state income tax, and charitable contributions.

4. Chipotle addiction! Recreate with a smidge, handful, a pinch recipe. Yes!