Business Innovators Radio - Episode #62 – Use Tax Refund Wisely – The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcast – With Mark Triplett & Troy Westendorf

Episode Date: March 21, 2024

We believe that every dollar has a purpose and a timeline. When and how your retirement assets will be used should be understood before making important financial decisions.The Triplett-Westendorf Purpose and Timeline 5 Step Planning Process (PT5) begins with Discovery.Understanding where you are now, and then defining where you want to go (Your Purpose) and when you want to get there (Your Timeline), programs your financial GPS. Our Purpose and Timeline 5-step process (PT5) programs your financial GPS.Learn more: http://triplett-westendorf.com/ | https://mypt5.com/The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/episode-62-use-tax-refund-wisely-the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast-with-mark-triplett-troy-westendorf

Welcome to the 15-minute financial feast podcast, bringing you 15-minute segments to help you retire with purpose on time. We're serving up food for thought and bread for the head. Are you hungry to learn? Here are your hosts, Mark Triplett and Troy Westendorf. Welcome to another episode of the 15-minute financial feast. Today, you are listening to the audio from a live television interview where one of our favorite local news station anchors asked us questions about a financial feast. topic on the minds of many hardworking folks in our community who are trying to make good decisions and get ahead. I know you don't want to hear me say this, but tax season is well

underway. For you plan a trip, could there be other ways to put that money to better use? Local financial professional Mark Triplett from Trivitt-Westendorf. Financial Group joins us now to help us think differently about our tax refund. Oh, Mark, I just got my taxes done yesterday, and it was depressing. Let's just clear the air on that. How can a tax refund help us? improve our finances? Well, there may be a strong urge to go and spend that money, but the average tax return this year is expected to be about $3,200. The first thing I would recommend folks consider doing is paying it down any high

interest debt. So, for example, credit card debt. Just to put that in perspective, if you have a 20% interest rate charge on your credit card debt and you don't use that money to pay it down, on $3,200, you're basically wasting $642 a year. interest charges. So pay that debt down first. And then maybe if you don't have any high credit car debt, build an emergency fund. More than half of households in the United States cannot handle a $1,000 emergency. And we all know car repairs or job losses, those type of emergencies come up.

So it's nice to have a little cushion in that event. And last thing, start crossing off your to do list. For example, home repairs or auto repairs you've been putting off. Maybe use that refund towards some of those items as well. You talk so much about the importance of investing and how different ways of building wealth, making your money work for you. And oftentimes so many people say, I just don't have extra money, extra cash from after I pay all my bills to then go and invest in something. So perhaps that's a good way to use your taxes too. Let your money multiply, right? Yeah, for sure. Planning for your future. Like if we paid off our high interest debt, We've got an emergency fund.

There aren't any to-do items right now. Consider using the arrival of your refund as a reminder to get with your financial professional and talk about your financial future. What have you saved so far? Are you on track or off track? And then should you be contributing maybe to an IRA or a Roth IRA with that tax refund to do something a little bit more constructive with it? It's also jarring even a punch to the gut when you realize you are owing money

to the IRS. What would you say is the most common misconception about tax refunds? So if you're owing money to the IRS, then that means that you're not giving the IRS or the federal government a tax-free loan. I said the biggest misconception I run into, folks look at their tax refund as like some sort of bonus check or extra money, but it's not. It's your money. It's your hard-earned money that you worked hard for and was withdrawn from your paycheck, given to the federal government as a interest-free loan, and then they're just returning it back to you. And if you would have held on to that $3,200 average refund,

you could have invested that maybe at 5% and earned $13 a month or $160 annually. But instead, you're just getting your money back. Yeah, a lot to think about. And, of course, we want to get on it before that deadline, because then it gets complicated, getting your extensions and having to pay for that. So thank you, Mark. much. I know it's always, it's always just like, nobody ever wants to hear that, right? It's like when daylight saving comes and you lose an hour, you're just like, really, we're here again.

But thank you so much. Great advice. And hopefully everyone has a smooth tax process this year. We're going to take a live look outside. Thank you for having me. You've been listening to the 15-minute financial feast podcast. Remember, every dollar has a purpose and every dollar has a timeline. If you have questions about today's topic, schedule a call with a team member. Visit www.w.com. Until next time, be sure you're taking steps to retire with purpose on time. Mark Triplett is an investment advisor representative of and advisory services offered through Royal Fund Management LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor.

Nothing contained in this program should be considered an offer to buy or sell securities. Different investments have different risks associated with them, and not all investments are appropriate for all investors.