Your March Financial Checklist

As the weather warms and the days get longer, you may be enjoying some more nights out on the town, buying some new clothes, or planning some trips. It’s certainly an exciting season — a refreshing new beginning after winter — but it can also be financially straining. According to Gallup, consumers reported spending up to $10 more each day in the spring and summer months than in January and February. With that in mind, it’s important to take stock of your financial situation so you can eat your cake and not break the bank doing it.

1. Check on the status of your tax return. If you have not filed yet, it’s imperative you do so as soon as possible, especially if you are a Georgia resident. The IRS found that tax identify fraud was more prevalent in Georgia last year, and filing early is one of the best ways to avoid being the victim of identify fraud. (If you file a legitimate return with your social security number, you can prevent others from filing a fraudulent return with your SSN.) You may have heard you can file for a temporary identification PIN under which you can file your return as an extra level of security against fraud. However, the IRS has temporarily suspended the IP PIN tool, and it is only available for those who have already filed for a PIN.
2. Review your budget. Beyond reviewing your spending during the beginning of the year and reevaluating your savings goals, it’s important to take into consideration a possible delay in state tax refunds. As a result of additional security measures being implemented, the Georgia Department of Revenue has said that individuals who file error-free electronic returns may not receive their refund for 30-45 days. Those who do not file electronically or do not file error-free may not receive their returns for 6-8 weeks. If you were expecting your return earlier, now is a good time to determine how you will make do while you wait for the refund.
3. Don’t forget to contribute to your Health Savings Account. The deadline to make your 2015 contribution to your HSA is April 18. For those enrolled in an HSA-eligible insurance policy on or before December 1, 2015, you can contribute $3,350 for individual coverage or $6,650 for family coverage. Those 55 or older can contribute an additional $1,000. If you had HSA-eligible coverage on December 1, but not for the entirety of 2015, you can make a full contribution but must keep the HSA-eligible policy for all of 2016 to avoid penalties and fees. If you did not have HSA-eligible coverage on December 1, 2015, the amount you can contribute depends on the number of months you’ve had it.
4. Make sure you have contributed to your IRA. Vanguard found that more than double the amount of contributions are made right before the April deadline than at any other point in the year. By contributing at the last minute, investors miss out on a years’ worth of tax-advantaged compounding, which according to their calculations, could result in a loss of up to $15,500 over 30 years. If you have not made your 2015 contribution yet, review the limits here, make your contribution, and determine how you are going to make earlier or more spread out contributions during the 2016 tax year.