Professionals Who Let You Down
Posted by Reviewer on 02/12/09 in Health
I’ve had two different people really make big mistakes in handling my money. One was my financial advisor. When my mom left me a nice inheritance, we of course put some money into an account for the boys’ college…but she put my husband’s social security number on it. When we got divorced, that was left alone but he alone gets all the tax benefits of this market downturn. She did some nice things, too, like setting up good term insurance, and telling me when I needed cash which account “wasn’t doing anything,” but this one was a big one in my book, despite the good life insurance.
Secondly, my tax advisor last year didn’t tell me that if I took the younger son as my write off that year, I would have benefitted from the Bush tax rebate. I’d wanted the older son in order to write off the college expenses, but we didn’t have enough tax liability to write that off, at which point he should have told me to switch to the minor child. They get enough for doing our taxes-he should have thought of that! Plus, I missed out on the last year I actually would have gotten a write-off for him.
tag this
Jennifer Golblatt | Feb 13, 2009 | Reply
Well, everyone’s a whole lot smarter than me, aren’t they? I stopped claiming my children as dependents as soon as they turned eighteen. I’m kicking myself now when I think about all the tax benefits I could have utilized.
Gonzales | Feb 13, 2009 | Reply
That’s really unfortunate. I’ve got a tax advisor (who also happens to be my sister), and thankfully she’s never steered me wrong when April 14th rolls around.
Gulliani | Feb 13, 2009 | Reply
Don’t feel so bad. When my mom passed away, I wasted all my inheritance in the stock market. I don’t think I need to tell you how this story ends.
Jacquelyn Gore | Feb 13, 2009 | Reply
Well, that really stinks. I’ve been thinking about finding someone to help me with my finances, but after reading this, I’m not too sure. I can always pester my parents though.
sarah | Feb 13, 2009 | Reply
That sucks. My mom tried to do a similar thing with me last year, but I already claimed myself as independent in order to be eligible for another student loan.