Wait 7 years to shred tax documents
Dear Liz: With tax time coming up, I have an important question. For years I have been told that the IRS has three years to audit you and after three years, supporting documentation can be shredded. But I read from other sources (including you) that we should wait seven years. So, which is it?
Answer: Your biggest risk of audit is definitely in the first three years after your tax return is due or the date it was filed, whichever deadline is later. But the IRS has another three years to audit you if it suspects you have underreported your income by 25% or more. (There’s no limit if it suspects you deliberately committed fraud.)
The seven-year recommendation stems from how we file tax returns — our 2011 return will be filed by April 2012, for example. Adding seven years to the year on the tax return should help most law-abiding taxpayers remember how long they need to hang on to supporting documentation.
Consult with your tax pro, but you may be able to save time and space by scanning your documents and keeping electronic, rather than physical, copies. The IRS accepts digital data as long as it can’t be altered.
Did Grandma divert the college fund?
Dear Liz: When my cousin and I were children more than twenty years ago, my grandparents opened a college savings account for each of us. I have no idea what kind of account this was, or where it was located. My grandfather passed away a few years later. While I was in high school, my grandmother informed me the investments had not done well, and she was closing the accounts. I received a check for $500 at high school graduation that was supposed to be the balance of the account. I assumed my cousin received the same, until she recently posted on a social networking site she was thankful her grandmother started a college fund when she was young that covered the entire cost of her education. I am furious at my grandmother, and now believe both accounts were cashed out and given to my cousin. Without knowing anything about the accounts, except that one was intended for me, is there anyway to find out what actually happened to the money? And would I have legal recourse to try to recoup the money, since my grandfather intended it for me?
Answer: Your cousin has at least two grandmothers. Have you considered the possibility she wasn’t referring to the one you share?
If your cousin left no doubt in her post, there’s still not much you can do. If your grandparents opened custodial accounts, such as Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts, then legally the money was yours and shouldn’t have been transferred to your cousin, if that’s in fact what happened. But your grandparents simply may have opened accounts in their own names that they informally earmarked for college educations. In that case, they could have done anything they wanted with the money.
Even if you had records proving the money was yours and it was wrongfully transferred, the idea of taking legal action against a family member should give you some pause. Since you have no such records, you’re pretty much at a dead end. You can ask your grandmother about this, or simply let the matter rest as one of the mysteries of family life and move on with your own.
Daughter’s family is bleeding them dry
Dear Liz: How does a family without any income qualify for assistance? My son-in-law has had an Internet business for a few years. He did okay for a while, but not lately. Because he owns his own business, he can’t get unemployment. We’re paying for everything and can’t do it much longer. My daughter has a special needs child and is a stay-at-home mom. The kids have medical insurance, but the parents don’t. What steps are available to them to get the help they so desperately need?
Answer: If your son-in-law incorporated his business and paid into his state’s unemployment fund, he may qualify for benefits. If not, he can start his search for help at Benefits.gov, which is a federal Web site with links to a variety of assistance programs.
The fact that you’re helping the family financially is a blessing to them—but the fact that you’re “paying for everything” is a huge red flag. Families can fall upon tough times, but responsible ones have some savings they can tap and are diligent about finding ways to make money, even if it’s not as much as they were able to command in the past. If they can’t make ends meet, responsible families make changes—sometimes drastic changes—until they can.
What responsible families don’t do is continue relying on relatives until those relatives are bled dry. If your son-in-law isn’t actively looking for a job, he should be. If your daughter is the more employable one and can find work, then he could take over the child-care duties.
They may not take these steps if they think they can still count on you to pay the bills, so you need to be straight with them about your inability to continue supporting their family.
Don’t suspend 401(k) contributions to pay down loan
Dear Liz: I have a 401(k) loan that I used to purchase a car. I plan on aggressively paying off the balance in 2 years or less. Should I continue making contributions to my 401(k) or should I stop and use the money I was contributing to pay the loan off faster?
Answer: Continue contributing to your 401(k), no matter what. You may save a few bucks in interest in the short run if you stop contributing to pay down the loan, but you’ll lose out on the much bigger compounded gains your contributions could have made over the coming decades.
Dependents can fund Roths, even if their parents can’t
Dear Liz: I am a 20-year-old college student with a stable, part-time job. I haven’t contributed to a 401(k) with this company because I don’t plan to be working for it for two years, which is how long I’d have to wait for my contributions and earnings to be 100% mine. I’d like to open a Roth IRA, but I’m not sure I’m eligible. I’m listed as a dependent and our household adjusted gross income is between $145,000 and $155,000. Can I open a Roth?
Answer: The short answer is yes, although you may want to reconsider contributing to your workplace 401(k) as well.
As long as you have earned income that’s less than the Roth limits, you can contribute to a Roth account, said Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for tax research firm CCH Inc. Your status as a dependent and your parents’ household income aren’t factors.
This fact allows many wealthier parents who make too much for their own Roth IRAs — the limits are $179,000 for a married couple filing jointly and $122,000 for singles — to give money to their lower-earning children to fund the kids’ Roth accounts.
“The dependent would need to have earned income for the year at least equal to or greater than the amount of the Roth IRA contribution,” Luscombe said. But “the Roth IRA contribution would not have to come from that earned income.” The money could come from the parents’ gift.
All that said, you should reconsider your aversion to your company’s 401(k), especially since you may be misunderstanding how it works. You typically would be able to leave with your own contributions, and the earnings on those contributions, at any time. What you may not be able to take with you is your employer’s full match, since it may take several years for you to be fully vested. Still, you may be able to leave with part of the match, which would make it free money that you shouldn’t turn down.
