Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

Liz Weston

Q&A: Finding free tax help

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Dear Liz: You recently mentioned the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide Program as a resource for getting help with tax returns. I just want to point out that there are other, IRS-sponsored programs that provide free income tax assistance to the elderly and low-income taxpayers. These programs are Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Consulting for the Elderly (TCE). The site where I’ve volunteered for many years does approximately 2,000 tax returns each year. A mention in your column would be a great way to spread the word about this valuable service.

Answer: Consider it done. The IRS has a tool to find VITA and TCE resources using your ZIP Code.

Q&A: Should extra cash go to retirement or emergency savings?

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Dear Liz: I have an excessive amount of money in my bank checking and savings account (about $20,000 in each) and need to know where to invest it. My financial planner advised putting it in my 401(k), but I can’t transfer a chunk of money, I can only increase the percentage I contribute (which is currently at 10% of my salary). I have IRAs, but I can only deposit a certain amount there as well. Where would be the best place for this extra money to go that will pay interest?

Answer: You may not be able to put the money directly into your 401(k), but you could boost your contribution rate at work and tap the “excess” money in your accounts to make up the difference in your paychecks.

First, though, make sure you have an adequate emergency fund. Most financial planners recommend keeping a reserve equal to three to six months’ worth of expenses. This money should be kept in a safe, liquid account, such as an FDIC-insured bank account. You don’t need to settle for the tiny amount of interest many banks pay, however. Some online high-yield savings accounts are now paying over 4%.

Q&A: Caught in the IRS backlog

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Dear Liz: In 2021, we helped two of our children buy a condo. One of them confessed she hadn’t filed taxes for several years. We worked on the returns together, and it turned out that nothing was owed. Meanwhile, the IRS has never acknowledged the delayed tax filings or refunded the (small) overpayments. Shouldn’t the IRS have completed these filings by now?

Answer: The IRS says it has processed all paper and electronic individual returns for tax year 2021 or earlier if those returns had no errors or did not require further review. Returns that were filed late, however, may still be part of the agency’s backlog.

Your child can try using the “Where’s My Refund?” tool on the IRS site or create an online account to check for possible updates. Keep in mind that there’s a three-year limit to claim a refund; after that point, the U.S. Treasury gets to keep the money.

Visiting Troyes, or “You had me at half-timbered.”

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In a previous post, I discussed one of the best ways to stretch your travel dollars in Europe: visiting “second” cities, the somewhat less-traveled metropolises that allow you to experience a country’s culture and sights without the huge crowds and high prices of its capital cities. 

Here’s one to consider adding to your list: Troyes (pronounced “twah,” like the French number three) in the Champagne region of France.

If you’ve never heard of Troyes, don’t feel bad: neither had I until a recent road trip out of Paris. Even our Parisian friends looked puzzled when I mentioned Troyes, perhaps because this small city is best known today for its outlet stores.

But Troyes is well worth a visit, particularly if you like medieval old towns with narrow cobblestone streets and half-timbered buildings, or fascinating one-of-a-kind museums, plus a rather excessive number of Gothic churches. (One source says there are 11, another six, but I only visited three before I’d had my fill of stained glass, sad-eyed statuary and worn-away ledgerstones, those tomb coverings set in the floors of old churches.)

Troyes used to be an important trade center in the Middle Ages and standardized the unit of measure known as the troy ounce. It was also a big-enough deal in the art world that there is a “School of Troyes” style of painting and sculpture (featured in one of those museums I just mentioned).

But unlike other French cities, which grew and eventually knocked down most of their half-timbered construction, Troyes entered a long economic slump. As a result, its old town still has hundreds of these old buildings to see and explore. 

One of the prettiest – with a huge inner courtyard and a turret – is the Hôtel de Mauroy, which houses one of the coolest museums I’ve ever seen: Maison de l’Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière. Translated, that’s the “house of tools and workers’ thought.”

Who cares about tools? I don’t, much, but I spent a couple of fascinating hours looking at thousands of hand-made tools from the 17th and 18th centuries collected by a 20th Century Jesuit priest. The museum offers a handy printed guide as well as an audio guide which I’m sure are chock-full of great info about the workers and trades who used these tools. I was content just to look at the beautifully lit, artistically arranged display cases – including one with dozens of hand trowels arranged like schools of fish. 

Other must-sees include a stained glass museum and a small-but-mighty apothecary museum. Turns out the pharmacists of old relied on stuff like ground-up mummies and the skulls of men who died violently to cure the ailments of the living. Also, check out Ruelle des Chats or “cat alley,” a lane where the half-timbered buildings nearly touch, making it easy for cats to hop from one rooftop to the next.

Troyes is about two hours south of Paris by car or train. I stayed in the central, historic Best Western Premier Hotel de la Poste and Spa, which I highly recommend. 

Do you have another “second city” to recommend? Please do so in the comments below. Thanks!

Europe on a budget: The best affordable hotel chains

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If you’re a frequent traveler in the U.S., you probably have a favorite affordable hotel chain. It’s the one you book when you don’t want to spend a fortune for a single night but still want a decent experience. (We’re fans of Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express, for example.)

Finding similar options in Europe can be a little daunting, since some of the brands we know and trust don’t exist there. Here are a few to consider for your next trip:

Best Western. I associate Best Westerns with road trips through the American West, but the chain has some terrific properties, often in historic buildings, throughout Europe. My favorite so far: Best Western Premier Hotel de la Poste & Spa, housed in a former post office in Troyes, France. 

My CitizenM room felt like a spaceship pod, in a good way.

CitizenM. This “affordable luxury” chain offers small, well-designed rooms in prime locations. You won’t find bellboys or concierge desks. Instead, there’s a self-serve check-in desk that’s part of a larger “living room” that includes a bar, breakfast buffet and hang-out spaces. I stayed at CitizenM’s Copenhagen hotel, nicely situated on a public transit route near the train station and just steps from the old part of town, including Tivoli Gardens amusement park.

Moxy. This Marriott brand started in the U.S. and spread to Europe, where it emulates some aspects of the CitizenM experience, including compact rooms combined with large common spaces. Moxy locations tend not to be as centrally located as CitizenM’s, but if you need to stay near an airport or don’t mind a little extra travel time from an outlying neighborhood, the savings can be worthwhile.

Ibis Hotels. This is a budget brand from France’s Accor Hotels that you can find throughout Europe. If you need extra room for a family, look for Ibis Styles hotels, which offer slightly larger rooms (and included breakfast). I saw some Ibis hotels in great, central locations and others that were miles away from anywhere most tourists would want to be, so check a map before you book.

All these brands have frequent traveler programs. Best Western and Moxy allow you to book with points you accumulate in the U.S.

Do you have a favorite good-value hotel chain in Europe? Please share your experience in the comments.

The best free museums in Paris

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Museums in Paris typically aren’t cheap, with adult ticket prices often ranging between $15 and $20, depending on the exchange rate. There are, however, a number of absolutely wonderful museums in Paris that are also absolutely free.

Here are some that I highly recommend:

Shops signs in the Musée Carnavalet.

The Musée Carnavalet. This Paris history museum is housed in two gorgeous 17th-century mansions in the Marais district. One of its highlights greets you as soon as you walk in: a collection of shop signs, some dating back to the Middle Ages. Another of my favorite rooms is an intact Art Nouveau jewelry store designed by Alphonse Mucha. Several beautifully decorated rooms, some imported from other mansions, illustrate how the upper crust lived in previous centuries. Downstairs you can see prehistoric tools as well as statues, jewelry and other remnants of Paris’ time as a Roman settlement. Upstairs there’s an extensive collection of Revolution memorabilia as well as maps, models, paintings and other exhibits illustrating the city’s history. Don’t miss the small but well-curated gift shop for unique items, including magnets shaped like some of those iconic signs.

Petit Palais

Petit Palais: The Petit Palais is another Paris museum where the building rivals the artwork. Both it and the nearby Grand Palais are considered outstanding examples of the Beaux-Arts style (think “over the top, more is more” architecture characterized by lots of statues, columns and decoration). The Petit Palais has a fine collection of paintings and sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries, but I love it for its beautiful interior garden, which you can enjoy while having lunch or coffee in the museum cafe. The Petit Palais is located just off the Champs-Élysées, not far from the Place de la Concorde.

A view of Place des Vosges from Victor Hugo’s apartment.

Maison Victor Hugo. You can check out two Paris must-sees with one visit: the Place de Vosges, a prestigious square in the Marais that dates to the early 1600s, and the home of Victor Hugo, who lived in one of its mansions from 1832 to 1848. Hugo wrote a big chunk of “Les Misérables” here and also indulged in a hobby of reworking old Gothic furniture. He wasn’t a bad draftsman, either; his drawings decorate several of the rooms.

Musée de la Vie Romantique. The “Museum of Romantic Life,” dedicated to the Romantic period in French art and literature, is housed in a compound once owned by painter Ary Scheffer in the Pigalle neighborhood, about a 15 minute walk downhill from Sacre Coeur. The writer George Sand attended salons there, and the exhibits include some of her (surprisingly good) landscape paintings as well as a large oil portrait of her. Once again, a highlight is the museum’s garden and cafe–another great place to rest your feet before heading back out onto Paris’ lively streets.

Musée Cognacq-Jay. Another standout museum in the Marais is the former home of Ernest Cognacq, founder of La Samaritaine department store chain, and his wife, Marie-Louise Jay. The museum’s collection focuses on 18th century art, including  paintings, sculptures, furniture and decorative arts, but more than half the pictures I took were of the lovely mansion itself.

You can find a list of other free museums at Paris’ official tourism site, along with a lengthy list of museums that are free on the first Sunday of the month (including heavyweights like the Centre Pompidou and the Musée d’Orsay). Some of these free-Sunday tickets must be reserved well in advance, however. If you can’t land a slot at one of the biggies, consider my all-around favorite Musée des Arts et Métiers, a science and technology museum that proves the French invented everything of importance, or Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, a museum of architecture and monumental sculpture at the Trocadéro.

A tip for families: Children under 18 are typically free even at the more expensive museums. Also, free admission is often extended to people under 26 if they’re residents of European Economic Area countries.