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 […]
Recent Blog Posts
Q&A: Caught in the IRS backlog
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 […]
Visiting Troyes, or “You had me at half-timbered.”
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 […]
Europe on a budget: The best affordable hotel chains
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 […]
The best free museums in Paris
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: The Musée Carnavalet. This Paris history museum is housed in two […]
Will you face a tax bomb in retirement?
Good savers, beware. The money you’re stuffing into your 401(k) and other retirement accounts has to be withdrawn someday. If you’re not strategic about how you save, you could face unnecessarily high tax bills and inflated Medicare premiums in retirement — plus, you could be saddling your heirs with higher taxes. The earlier you start […]