The 6 Smartest Things to Do With Your Tax Refund

By  Vance Cariaga  February 13, 2024 GoBankingRates

Getting a tax refund can be exciting. It feels a little like getting a year-end work bonus in the middle of spring. Fun as it can be, it’s important to keep in mind that there are smart things you can do with that refund — and not so smart things.

Rather than blow the refund on something you don’t really need, you should put it to use in a way that can bolster your financial situation.

With the 2024 tax season underway, you might be looking forward to a refund from the IRS or your state tax agency. How you use it depends on your own personal situation, but here are six of the smartest things to do with your tax refund.

6 Things You Should Never Do With Your Tax Refund (Do This Instead)

March 4, 2024 by  Vance Cariaga GoBankingRates

There’s nothing like a tax refund to give your finances an immediate shot in the arm. Depending on the size of the refund, it could be used to wipe out your credit card debt or help you build an emergency fund. Unfortunately, many people blow their refunds on something frivolous that does nothing to strengthen their finances.

The best way to look at your tax refund is as an opportunity to grow your wealth, rather than a free pass to spend money. When you complete your tax return and find that you are due a refund, consider it a return on the hard work you put in during the previous year.

One of the smartest moves you can make is to invest the money in a high-yield savings account. This is an especially good move right now, with banks and credit unions offering their highest annual percentage yields in years.

One of the best savings options is Milli Bank. Milli is a mobile-only bank owned by FNBO whose savings account pays a 4.75% APY, as of Feb. 29, 2024. That’s more than 10 times the national average interest on a savings account.

4 Surprising Things the IRS Already Knows About Your Finances

Sean Bryant  Thu, April 11, 2024

For many Americans, the IRS and the tax filing process may seem complicated and mysterious. What does the IRS already know about you and your finances, and what can they find out?

It turns out, the IRS has the ability to see a surprising amount of your personal information. However, the IRS is likely to seek out personal information only if your tax return signals something suspicious.

Keep reading as we explore what the IRS already knows about you and your finances.

Reported Financial Records

This might not be a huge surprise to many people, but most of the time, the IRS already knows what your tax return will be before it’s even filed. The reason is because they’ve already received copies of your W-2 and 1099 forms.

Your W-2 reports all your previous year’s wage income, while your 1099s list income from freelancing, stock dividends and interest. By law, your employers must submit these documents to the IRS before January 31.

4 Money Lessons From High-Net-Worth People That You Need Right Now

Wola Odeniran, CEPF®  Tue, April 25, 2023

Advisors often work with high-net-worth clients and are able to understand the expectations wealthy clients have about managing their finances. The good news is that some of those takeaways can be applied to clients who are not high-net-worth individuals.

Read on to understand four lessons advisors can take from high-net-worth clients – and how they can be applied to any client.

If you are looking to grow your financial advisory business, check out SmartAsset’s SmartAdvisor platform.

Almost Everyone Needs an Estate Plan

Estate-planning practices apply to every client, no matter their tax bracket, says Renee Fry, co-founder and CEO of Gentreo, a company that provides estate-planning document services.

“Financial advisors should take the example of their high-net-worth clients and apply estate-planning principles to all their customers, regardless of income bracket,” Fry says. “Every person has an estate, regardless of their income level, and thus, everyone should have a plan in place to ensure that their assets are distributed according to their wishes.”

Proper planning can help advisors build a bigger client base. “By doing so, advisors can help ensure their client’s financial security, build long-term trust and differentiate themselves from their competitors,” Fry says.

 What Does Your  Personality Type Say About How You Handle Money?

The Traits of 5 Money Personality Types: What Does Yours Say About How You Handle Money?

Laura Bogart  Wed, April 10, 2024 GoBankingRates

Sometimes, money is more than money. The way you think about it (or don’t think about it), prioritize it (or don’t prioritize it), spend it (or don’t spend it), and save it (or don’t save it) can reflect aspects of your personality.

Learning more about the various personality types around money – and where you fall into the spectrum – can be a first step in healing, or strengthening, your relationship to money.

Financial experts and professionals encounter people with different personalities around money – sometimes within mere hours.

So, GOBankingRates talked to experts about some unique personality types around money to get a sense of their strengths and areas of healing.

How To Switch Banks: An Easy Step-By-Step Guide

Follow these steps for switching banks painlessly.

Bob Haegele  Thu, April 4, 2024

Switching banks might seem like a daunting task. It means creating new accounts, updating automatic payments, and getting accustomed to your new bank’s policies and features. Even so, switching banks is sometimes necessary — and it could help you save money.

How? Perhaps other banks have lower fees or pay higher interest rates on their accounts. For instance, according to the Federal Reserve, the average national deposit rate on savings accounts was just 0.47% as of March 18, 2024. However, some high-yield savings accounts pay over 5% APY.

Whether you’re looking to switch due to better rates, lower fees, or some other reason, this guide will cover all the steps you need to take.

How to switch banks

The process of switching banks isn’t difficult if you follow the right steps. Here’s how to make the switch.

I’m a Bank Teller: 3 Times You Should Never Ask For $100 Bills at the Bank

Andrew Lisa  Wed, April 3, 2024  GoBankingRates

According to data intelligence firm SAS Analytics, $100 bills account for 34% of paper currency in circulation in the U.S. and 82% of its value.

In short, most of our paper money is in hundreds — by a mile — but that doesn’t mean there’s never a bad time to walk into a bank branch and ask for one.

Whether you need a fresh, crisp C-note to put in a birthday card, a wedding envelope or just to stash in your emergency cash pile at home, you’ll want to pick your moment.

Here’s what you need to know.

A Lesson In Learning To Say "No"

Tim Keown  ESPN Senior Writer

(Note: This Article can apply to Lotto-Winners, A Big Inheritance and Dinarians!)

HERE'S A CHALLENGE: Imagine what it feels like to be 21 years old, extremely successful, famously wealthy, wildly stressed and unbearably miserable. How, you might wonder, can all those conditions exist simultaneously?

Start here, with Cowboys All-Pro offensive tackle Tyron Smith, talking to his mother on the phone one day in 2012, his second year in the NFL, during a time of growing tension between him

"We've found a house," Frankie Pinkney told her son.

By this stage, wariness had become as intrinsic to Smith's identity as his brown eyes and bookcase shoulders. Silently, he awaited details. He had agreed to purchase a home in Southern California for his mother and stepfather. They would live in it; he would own it as an investment.

The agreed-upon budget was roughly $300,000, but over the course of the conversation, Frankie dropped the bomb. List price: more like $800,000.

Smith, now 23, is sitting at a polished wood table in the conference room of his lawyer's Dallas office. Surrounded by his girlfriend, accountant and lawyer, he fixes his eyes on a spot somewhere high on the floor-to-ceiling window. "Yeah, my parents wanted a house," Smith says. "But it was way bigger than mine and cost way more than mine."