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Filing your federal tax return often boils down to a straightforward decision: if your itemized deductions is more than the standard deduction, itemize; otherwise, stick with the standard deduction.

But is that the optimal answer?

Not always.

State Income Tax Considerations

Let’s take a scenario: a couple residing in Virginia with a combined federal adjusted gross income (AGI) of $130,000 and itemized deductions totaling $27,000. For the tax year 2023 and a federal standard deduction of $27,700, itemizing seems less favorable. By opting for the standard deduction, their federal tax bill would be $154 lower than if they itemized.

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On Saturday, October 7th, I awoke to find a text from my daughter telling me to not worry and that she was safe. Of course her text had the opposite effect! In her senior year, she was attending a study abroad program in Jerusalem.

The university ended the program early and sent the students home. My daughter was pretty sure the university wouldn’t refund any of the program fees but we were pleasantly surprised when they posted a refund to her university account at the beginning of December.

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Virginia 529 has a new giveaway to boost your college savings: contribute $250 to a Tuition Track portfolio by June 30th, 2023, and Virginia 529 will kick in another $100! (expired!)

Unlike the recent giveaway in May (expired!), the June offer has a state residency requirement. To open a Tuition Track account, either the account owner or the beneficiary must be a resident of Virginia.

Frequently Virginia529 runs promotions in May, part of their 5/29 celebrations. This year you can score $50 by simply opening a new account, contributing $50, and then setting up auto-contributions (expired!). The deadline is next week, May 31st, 2023.

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Years ago when my oldest child started her first job as a life guard for the local pool system, I pondered how I could motivate her to contribute to a Roth IRA. I settled on a tactic that’s used by employers everywhere: matching contributions.