Posted on 01/17/2018 3:14:40 AM PST by CptnObvious
If you've gotten yourself out of debt (except the mortgage) and have a sizable emergency fund ( 3-6 months expenses) 2018 may be a great year to boost your Retirement savings. Many will have increased paychecks and be able invest wisely, but not as much as they could.
Many will benefit in 2019 from the 2018 tax cuts and increased Child Tax Credits by getting huge refunds in 2019. But why wait? Time is Money. By Increasing your Withholding Exemptions NOW you can increase your paycheck and boost your Retirement savings even more!
Make it a priority to get any employer matching funds next; free money is good! After getting any match look into Roth IRAs and get an investment adviser if you don't already have one. You'll be glad you did when retirement comes.
So Increase your Exemptions to Boost Retirement Savings in 2018!.
Plan to be Wealth and Giving.
Not seeing any tax cuts for those already retired.
By increasing exemptions, a person is, in essence, giving the government an interest-free loan for a year. Better still, figure out how much those fictional exemptions would be and plunk that money in the booming stock market. Better return for your dollar (the government will NOT pay interest) and you control, in theory, your money.
My employer just eliminated matching funds. :(
For 2018 it is best to wait for the revisions to Form W-4 and, of course, consult a tax professional as everyone's situation is different. But the strategy proposed by the original poster has merit.
I am retired and while I don’t expect the tax reform package to improve my individual situation, it will certainly help my country.
That makes it good enough for me! Life is not a zero-sum game, unless you are a brain-dead liberal. And then, you know in your heart that if anyone other than yourself gets a benefit, it is being taken away from you!
The wife and I are retired and will see about $800 this coming year.
My exact reasoning for disregarding financial “help” on a political message board.
“Has merit”, may be. “Get a financial advisor”?
Even that is not really necessary with the slew of free info on the WWW provided one can read and has time and discipline to stick to and properly structure a solid plan.
No giving the government my money to use for free. Absolutely the opposite of what people should do.
Likely the smartest post on this thread. Well done.
What exemptions?
Don't your mean Decreasing the number of Personal Exemptions?. Decreasing them or leaving them the same can have the effect you describe.
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Don't your mean Decreasing the number of Personal Exemptions from Taxes?. Decreasing them or leaving them the same can have the effect you describe.
What exemptions are changes through Withholding? That would be your answer :)
There are no individual exemptions to adjust withholding anymore. I have no idea how they are going to do it going forward.
I didn’t comment on the obvious mistake the original poster made, I commented on the intent which was to “increase your refund” a ridiculous premise involving giving the government an interest free loan.
So, yes, you are a fricking genius, ok?
Since the Standard Deduction is much greater than itemizing and my kids are grown (no Child Tax Credit) I divided $24000 by $4050 and rounded it down to an Integer. This gave 5 Exemptions and I let payroll figure out the rest.
If I had the Child Tax Credits I would add the Credits to the Standard Deduction and divide by $4050 and Round that to an Integer.
It is possible to get withholding more accurate on the W-4 but it would take to long for this forum.
Do the Math.
duh.
I responded to the concept and didn’t respond to the error. Move on.
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