Are you getting a tax refund?
Some (boring) ideas for what to do with it:
1. SAVE it. A rainy day fund, emergency fund, or "fuck off fund" are super great! Having a thousand bucks is super fantastic, prevents a lot of problems, and makes impossible problems into mere annoyances.
2. Pay down debt! Getting rid of high interest debt not only feels like a weight off the shoulders, but makes life much simpler.
3. Have you maxed out your roth ira for 2015? You've got until April!
4. Have you maxed out your roth ira for 2016? Now's the time to get started.
5. Do you give money to charity? The Gates Foundation and GiveDirectly both do real, measurable good in the world.
6. Speaking of that emergency fund, boosting it to 3 months if its not there is always a good move.
7. Oh, right. Games. Buy a board game, or back something on kickstarter! Or, maybe even a trip!
Other suggestions? Are these dumb, wrong, or objectionable? Disagree with the order of things?
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I like the list, but I am against getting a refund. :(
ReplyDeleteRyan Good Sure, it is better still to arrange your withholding such that you either owe a little, or get a small refund. Ideally, you'd pay 90% of last years taxes so as to avoid a penalty. That is true.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting a tax refund. It is larger than I'd like, as I screwed up the withholding this year. Oh well. So I gave the government a zero interest loan for a few months -- that's not much better than I'd do in a savings account!
I have always been a fan of the boring options, so 1 - 3 would be my first choices.
ReplyDeleteRyan Good Not option 4?
ReplyDeleteDoh, since those are ordered #1, #2, and #3 on your list... I guess they are your first choices as well.
ReplyDeleteI have no self-control, so I am generous with my withholding and will be buying a new computer for my son and maybe a trip with mine.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Amherst The great side benefit to reducing debt is it cuts down on your monthly required expenses!
ReplyDelete#4 is not much different than #3... and I had to draw the line somewhere for my top picks.
ReplyDeleteAlso I do think #7 has some real value. I mean what go is any of it if you are all stressed out mentally. #7 could help with that.
Ryan Good Yeah, doing (1) before any of the others is important. That first thousand dollars is really important!
ReplyDeleteI'm ... I'm actually going to Australia next month, as I won a prize that covers about half of it. Its a really big deal, and something we wouldn't be able to do if we didn't normally save a lot of money.
Robert Bohl Might I recommend putting some away where you won't see it?
ReplyDeleteYou might, but it's not gonna happen. I know me!
ReplyDelete(Plus I am job hunting right now so, joking / hyperbole / sad truth aside, I'll need that for other things as well.)
Ryan Good Yeah, I misinterpreted you at first. I was meaning that you have probably already done #3, and can move onto #4.
ReplyDeleteRobert Bohl Hey, if you're in the middle of a rainy day, then keeping it as a rainy day fund (that is, continued living expenses) is perfect!
ReplyDeleteI think you should do a combo of several.. pay down some debt save some to emergency fund if it's not already where it needs to be and put some into a retirement savings if any is left...
ReplyDeleteI would also suggest backing a quality kickstarter or buying a game as viable cause fun must be had.
Mark Reed No disagreement from me. Do what works for you. Using 10% or so of any windfall on fun is a good idea!
ReplyDelete