Tax Paperwork Collection - a short post

 

At this time of year, most of us should have received all needed tax forms, and be ready to file our Federal and State tax forms.  In my case, I have enough paperwork coming in from enough places that I have to check each sheet against a list I've made to insure that I have everything needed for my accountant. Since my brother takes care of a the finances of a joint investment we own, I end up waiting for an extra month before sending paperwork to my accountant.

This year, I have to ask my account a simple question.  Does it make sense for me to drop the maximum amount I can contribute into a Roth IRA?  I'm not sure of where the stock market is headed, but I know that I want the tax advantages of a Roth IRA, as I will not need the principal invested for at least 5 years. (It makes sense for me to work part time, so that I can put money into this type of IRA.)

The big question I have to ask of myself: Do I want to work part time after I reach the age where I can collect Social Security?  What are the tax consequences?  How much more paperwork will I have to deal with if I do so?  (I can only imagine the headaches I'll face if I ever change my name....)

Work - Should I or shouldn't I?

 

Today's post will be a quick one....

I don't recall ever feeling physically exhausted from 40 years of working in front of a computer screen.  But this job is very different.  There is not enough visual downtime from low level mental processing.  So an interesting question comes to me - Should I or Shouldn't I continue going to work?  Should I retire for good?

Although I enjoy going to work as Marian, it's not the work I wanted to do.  But the money coming in is very useful to me.  And I need to make it last.  So I was having a conversation with a friend at work, and we were discussing financial issues while I was working at indexing documents.  She didn't understand what I was trying to do with money (planning on putting money into Roth IRAs 2 years in a row instead of using the company 401k plan), but it made sense after an explanation.  This gave us an opening to talk about finances after work one day.  It should be an interesting conversation....