April 22, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode of the Teaching Tax Flow podcast, John and Chris jump into the details of the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, commonly known as the Saver's Credit. Throughout the discussion, they share valuable insights into how this federal tax credit benefits taxpayers, particularly those with low to moderate income, by encouraging them to save for retirement.
The Saver's Credit can significantly impact your financial health by offering up to a $2,000 tax credit for married couples filing jointly or $1,000 for individuals. The discussion underscores the importance of understanding non-refundable tax credits and how they can offset tax liabilities. Chris outlines the income phase-outs and filing statuses that affect eligibility, emphasizing that tax planning is crucial across all income levels. This episode provides practical knowledge for anyone looking to optimize their retirement savings strategy and take full advantage of available tax credits.
Key Takeaways:
- Understanding the Saver's Credit: The Saver's Credit is a federal tax credit designed to incentivize low to moderate income earners to save for retirement.
- Eligibility Criteria: Eligibility is determined by factors like adjusted gross income and filing status, and it applies to various retirement accounts, including traditional and Roth IRAs.
- Credit Limits: Individuals can receive up to $1,000, and married couples filing jointly can get up to $2,000, with the credit being non-refundable.
- Phase-Out Ranges: The credit phases out at different income levels, with specific thresholds for different filing statuses.
- Tax planning is for everyone: Chris stresses that effective tax planning is not just for the wealthy but is critical for taxpayers at every income level.
Notable Quotes:
- "A credit is typically better than a deduction. A credit is a dollar figure that benefits you."
- "This is a really great opportunity for people to take advantage of this credit. Many listeners might already be receiving this credit and might not know it."
- "Tax laws are written to encourage or discourage behavior—that could be financial, that could be social."
- "If you're in a lower to moderate income household, I would encourage you to look up VITA, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance."
- "It's amazing how you can get paid to put money away tax-free."
Resources:
- Teaching Tax Flow YouTube Channel
- Defeating Taxes Private Facebook Group
- Form 8880 for claiming the Saver's Credit
Encourage your listeners to tune in to the full episode for a deeper understanding of the Saver's Credit, and stay connected for more insights on tax planning strategies in upcoming episodes of the Teaching Tax Flow podcast.
Episode Sponsor:
Legacy Lock
Book a 30-minute complimentary discovery session at teachingtaxflow.com/legacy
(Mention Teaching Tax Flow for special pricing)
- (00:02) - Exploring the Retirement Savers Credit and Audience Engagement
- (03:09) - Understanding the Retirement Savers Contribution Credit Benefits
- (09:42) - Tax Credits and Income Phaseouts for Retirement Contributions
- (14:43) - Understanding Tax Credits and Eligibility for Retirement Savers
- (22:43) - Navigating Buc-ee's Shopping and Leftover Dilemmas
- (25:20) - Tax Planning Tips for Lower to Middle Income Households
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John Tripolsky (00:01):
Hey, everybody, and welcome back to the Teaching
Tax Flow podcast, episode 132today. We are diving into the
retirement savings contributionscredit. Better yet, it's known
as a saver's credit. And Andbefore we get into this one in
detail and figure out if youqualify or somebody you know
does, let's take a brief momentand thank our episode sponsor.
Ad Read (00:24):
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John Tripolsky (00:49):
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast
today. We are gonna dive into,as you've seen in the the show
title description there, we'regonna look at retirement savers
credit. So I have no ideaactually what this is, Chris. So
I brought my pen.
I got my paper. Let's hear allabout this here. I'm intrigued.
I'm intrigued, sir.
Chris Picciurro (01:09):
Well, you didn't welcome me back to my own
podcast this time, but I'm gonnawelcome myself back in. Thank
you for the thank you so muchfor the warm introduction.
John Tripolsky (01:16):
You know what it's like? It's almost like if I
was standing in the front doorof your own house inside, and
you came to walk into it andgrab the handle, And I opened it
up, and I was in there. It'slike, oh, well, welcome home,
sir. Welcome home.
Chris Picciurro (01:27):
Well, first of all, before we jump into this
topic, you know, I trulyappreciate we have seen a ton of
growth in our YouTube channel,teaching tax flow YouTube
channel, and our Defeating Taxesprivate Facebook group that's
defeatingtaxes.com orwww.feedingtexas.com. You know,
this isn't the sexiest topic wetalk about here on tax planning
(01:49):
and strategy, but our thefeedback from everyone has been
so kind, so encouraging, andactually, our topic ideas come
from you, the listeners, theviewers. So thank you so much.
We truly appreciate it. We donot take you for granted.
If you are listening on on anyof the major, you know, Spotify,
(02:11):
iTunes, etcetera, etcetera,just, you know, take two
seconds. Give us a like or jump.If you really wanna be our
friend, jump over to our YouTubechannel. The link's gonna be in
this podcast, and all you haveto do is hit subscribe. The cool
thing is we don't give you abunch of fluff and junk.
We give you some really goodcontent. And and, honestly, you
know, we we love doing this.This is complimentary content.
(02:36):
This is twenty plus years ofbeing as in the trenches as a
CPA, that you're gettingdelivered to your device. And,
you know, quite frankly, that'sthe least you could do is say,
thank you.
Good job. We appreciate you.Okay. I'm off my soapbox, John.
I'm coming in a little churse.
John Tripolsky (02:54):
Hey. It's all good, man. It's all good. You're
right. I mean, just the theaudience and the communities
that we have at these events onthese online communities, it's
great hearing what people whatpeople are interested in.
And obviously, we have the thedownloads to to prove it, that
people love this stuff.
Chris Picciurro (03:08):
For sure. So let's talk about the retirement
savers contribution credit. It'sa federal tax credit out there
available to all taxpayers. Ifyou meet the qualifications,
we're gonna talk about thequalifications. You might find
this online as called the,quote, unquote, savers credit.
(03:30):
And before we jump into thedetails, I want you to remember
one of the three laws ofteaching tax flow that tax
agencies are your involuntarybusiness partner. Tax laws are
written to what? Encourage ordiscourage behavior. That could
be financial. That could besocial.
This happens to be a financial,action that they're encouraging.
(03:55):
And we know that not enoughpeople in The United States are
putting money away intoretirement, specifically people
in lower to moderate incomehouseholds. So what the IRS is
doing is they're saying, youknow what? You might you might
have an employer that matchesyour retirement plan
(04:16):
contributions, or you might not.But guess what?
We're gonna be a double bonusemployer. If you meet the
qualifications, we're gonnamatch your retirement savings
contributions for you in theform of a credit. That's free
money. Credits are not taxable.So this is a really great
(04:36):
opportunity for people to takeadvantage of this credit.
Many listeners might already bereceiving this credit and might
not know it because sometimespeople just look at the bottom
line of of their tax, and dothey receive a refund, or do
they have a balance due? By theway, if you have a balance due,
that doesn't necessarily meanyou did anything quote unquote
wrong. It just means you didn'tpay in enough during the year to
(04:58):
cover the tax that's due. If youwanna change that, if you wanna
control your tax, you do that bytax planning. Remember, the IRS
picks your federal tax, andallows you take control, and you
do tax planning and strategy,then you get to pick your tax.
John Tripolsky (05:12):
And, you know, Chris, you you mentioned it's a
credit. Right? And I think aneasy way to kinda get that
across your drive at home.Right? It's basically like extra
credit, you know, back in backin school days.
Like, you have to do somethingto get that credit. They just
don't hand it to you for theheck of it. Right? Like, you
have to, I should say,contribute to get the match.
(05:33):
Right?
They're you're just not gonnaget it. They're not gonna dump
money into a retirement accountfor you. That's not a that's not
what we're talking about here.
Chris Picciurro (05:39):
Right. Right. Exactly. That is that is true.
You're right.
So the credit you get, it's likeextra credit. You get credit for
for for doing that. Well, let'sjump into the savers credit.
Okay? Couple things we have toremember.
A credit and a deduction are twodifferent things. I know we have
a ton of content in teaching taxone on the YouTube channel about
(06:01):
that, but a credit is typicallybetter than a deduction. A
credit is a dollar figure thatbenefits you. A deduction is a
an amount that you reduce yourtaxable income by. And then your
credits come in two differentshapes and sizes.
Right? You've got refundable.You've got nonrefundable.
Refundable credits are bettertypically than nonrefundable
(06:23):
credits, meaning a refund ugh.Easy for me to say.
A refundable credit a refundablecredit means that even if you
don't have tax, you get thatrefunded to you. The vast
majority of their credits arenonrefundable, which means you
get the credit, and it offsetsfederal tax if you have federal
(06:44):
tax to pay. And now that thatcould ultimately give you a
larger refund. The savers creditis a refund or is a
nonrefundable tax credit. Soit's a federal nonrefundable tax
credit.
And again, it's really there toencourage low to moderate income
individuals to save forretirement. Now let's start with
(07:05):
some good news, John. The creditapplies to many different
qualifying retirement accounts,not just tax deferred accounts.
Right? So it's traditional IRAs,Roth IRAs.
So think about this, John. Youcould potentially put money into
a Roth. You're in a lower tomoderate income household. You
(07:26):
don't necessarily need that taxdeduction today. So you're
putting money into that Roth.
It's gonna grow tax free, whichis amazing, and get distributed
tax free, and you're gonna get aretirement saver's credit.
That's like the double dip.Right? You're getting paid to
put money away tax free.
John Tripolsky (07:43):
Right. Wow. That's about the equivalent to
as good as it gets with the IRSkeeping their grubby hands off
your dollars.
Chris Picciurro (07:49):
Mhmm. Yeah.
John Tripolsky (07:50):
I'd like against the IRS completely, but I
Chris Picciurro (07:52):
know you're not a big sweets guy, John, but, you
know, I have a sweet tooth. Youcan have this big scoop of ice
cream, and it you know, it'sgonna taste great. You're gonna
eat it. And when it gets in yourbody, it's gonna burn 2,000
calories for you without doingany exercise. So think about
that.
So what retirement accounts areeligible for their savers
credit? Traditional IRAs, RothIRAs, four zero one k's, four
(08:18):
zero three b's, four fifty sevenb plans, which is for typically
for, like, a school district ornonprofit, and even able
accounts are are open are areavailable for those credits. So
bottom line is pretty much everyalmost every type of I mean,
SAPs, I think I mentioned.Almost almost every type of
retirement account is eligiblefor you to get the credit,
(08:41):
meaning if you make acontribution. So step one, you
have to make a contribution to aretirement account.
Pretty much any type ofretirement account is eligible.
And bingo bango, as a famousDetroit Red Wings commentator
used to say when I think youknow who I'm talking about.
Didn't that was it Mickey Redmanwho say
John Tripolsky (09:01):
I think so. I was just jogging my memory. I'm
like, I believe it was Redman.
Chris Picciurro (09:06):
Don't know why I remember just listening
hearing that. Anyway, you you'reeligible for the credit even if
it's a Roth. Okay. So thissounds great. So far, we're
doing good.
What's the credit looking like?Well, the credit is up to a
thousand dollars for anindividual and up to $2,000 for
a married filing joint. Now,again, that might not sound like
(09:29):
big numbers, but look at at theper for the people that are
gonna be eligible for thatcredit, that could be a
significant amount of theirdisposable income. The bottom
line is it's found money. Right?
You're getting paid to put moneyin your retirement account. Not
too shabby, John. Not tooshabby. Now here's where it gets
a little trickier. Right?
Because the credit is limitedbased on income. Alright? And
(09:54):
that driver is gonna be one oftwo things, your adjusted gross
income and your filing status.Adjusted gross income, you know
that well, you know, we likeacronyms. John, you're supposed
to make and maybe you will byonce you edit this podcast.
You're supposed to make a soundeffect whenever we use an
acronym here in the teaching taxflow podcast.
John Tripolsky (10:14):
It's gonna be like a toilet flushing or
something completely unrelated
Chris Picciurro (10:18):
to That's fine. As long as we have one, and I'm
gonna be listening. When thispodcast goes live, I really hope
there is a sound effect, but I'mgonna use an acronym called AGI,
adjusted gross income. It's avery common acronym in the tax
planning and strategy andpreparation community. So your
AGI and your filing statusdetermine your eligibility for
(10:41):
this credit on top of, did youput money away?
Right? So if you put money intoa qualifying plan, that's step
one. And the next step's gonnabe, do you get to you know, are
you bay do you are you eligiblebased on income? So let's listen
up. For 2025, we're using 2025numbers.
(11:01):
They're adjusted for inflationtypically. So if your 2024
returns on extension, thenumbers might be just a touch
different. But for marriedfiling joint couples, the credit
begins to phase out at $46,000of adjusted gross income, and
it's completely phased out at76,500. So let me take a step
back. When we're talk this getsreally confusing for taxpayers
(11:25):
because their credits also, weknow that they're you could be
refundable or nonrefundable, butsome credits have what we call a
cliff.
Some credits have a phase out.Right? A cliff means you get the
full credit until you go $1 overthe limit, and then you fall off
the cliff and you get nothing.Hopefully, that doesn't happen,
(11:45):
you know, physically. Othercredits phase out gradually.
So you could be eligible for thefull credit, but if your income
goes up, it's a sliding scalethat you get a little bit less
of a credit. So in general,married filing joint couple,
$152,500 of adjusted grossincome or less are gonna be
eligible for at least a partialcredit. Under $46,000 is
(12:10):
eligible for the full credit,which could be up to $2,000. So
think about that taxpayer. Let'ssay they have $45,000 of
adjusted gross income.
Now when you look at thenumbers, the average household
income in The United States,it's you know, we talk it's it's
somewhat in line with the toppart of these phase out. Tax
(12:31):
this is what I keep saying istax planning is for everybody at
every income level. It's notjust for people with a lot of
assets and a lot of income. AndI would argue, and you've you've
heard you've been around meenough, John, where I I keep
beating this drum, that it'sactually, in many ways, more
important for lower to moderateincome families because that
(12:52):
extra $2,000 is a huge, hugedeal for them. You know?
So married filing joint, let'ssay you're at $45,000 of
adjusted gross income, andyou've put money into a
retirement account, even a Roth.Right? I would encourage someone
to put money into the Roth atthis point. Well, in that case,
(13:14):
you could still get that creditbecause you don't need the
deduction at that income level.So those are the phase outs
2025.
'40 '6 thousand of AGI, 76,005for married filing joint. Let's
talk about head of household. Sohead of household is a filing
status when you have aqualifying dependent and you are
unmarried. The phase out's alittle different. Alright?
(13:34):
That phase out starts occurringat 34,500. So if you have 34,500
of AGI or less, full crediteligible. It starts to phase
out, and it completely phase outphases out at about $57,400.
That's for 2025. And then singlefilers are married filing
separately.
(13:55):
It's interesting, though,because 99 of the time, it's
better for married couples tofile jointly. This might be one
of those unique situations whereit makes sense to file
separately. There's a coupleunique situations, but those
phase outs are a little less. Sofor a single taxpayer or married
filing separate, it the thephase out begins at $23,000 of
(14:17):
adjusted gross income andcompletely phase out phases out
at about $38,000 of adjustedgross income. So again
John Tripolsky (14:24):
And I and I know we kinda ran through a lot there
as far as for the numbers, youknow, how how and what. Really,
really kind of a dumb question,but not really. Say somebody's
preparing their own taxes atthis point or or they're working
with somebody who just happensto do them for them. Maybe it's
a family member or somethingthat, you know, they just kinda
we won't call it. They pushpapers, but it's a pretty simple
return.
So in in in this case, if theyif they qualify for this, I
(14:46):
mean, is is this somethingthat's just a line item on a
return, or or what did it whatdo they have to do to get this
credit if they qualify for it?
Chris Picciurro (14:54):
Right. If they qualify for it, yep. They just
file they just file a separateform. I wanna say it's a form
eighty eight eighty. Gosh.
I hate to
John Tripolsky (15:03):
I hate because I know you haven't seen the you
probably haven't seen too manyof these at all. So this is like
asking me what I had forbreakfast in, you know, 02/2002.
Chris Picciurro (15:10):
No. That's alright. No. It is oh my gosh.
Just is an $88.80.
So you file a form eighty eighteighty. Put that in the show
notes, please. And also, I getmy name on the board, and then
with a plus, I get extra recesstime because I did my homework.
John Tripolsky (15:23):
I'll put you a star on the board, sir. Yeah.
Here you go. You get a star onthe board.
Chris Picciurro (15:26):
A form eighty eight eighty. You file that with
your personal tax return. Sothat's something that you just
file as part of your return. Nowif you're working with a tax
professional or yeah. They'regonna pick 99 of the time,
they're gonna pick this up.
Right? If you're not workingwith a tax professional, then
you've gotta make sure thatyou're you're putting the
numbers on the right spots ifyou're doing a self prepared
(15:49):
return. You know, when whenyou're looking at w two, that's
why I mean, when you look atthat w two, it's funny. I just
talked to my business partner onour private CPA, you know, our
private CPA firm that you knowwell, and and we we're talking.
He was actually working on hissister's tax return who changed
states midway through the year,and I'm like, man and she's a
(16:12):
teacher.
I'm like, dude, that's why I'mtelling you, there is no such
thing as an easy tax return.Nothing is easy. If you mess up
let's say you have someone witha w two wage of $35,000 and they
put money into their traditionalIRA, that's nowhere on the w
two, and you didn't realize thatyou screwed up a tax return. Or
(16:34):
if you have a w two with a bunchof numbers in it with employer
match and pretax HSA and this,that, and other thing, it's so
easy to screw up. Right?
So
John Tripolsky (16:44):
And I know we've been at, you know, we've been
at, again, events,conversations, podcasts. We've
done it on, on the Mr. R show,which is a podcast specifically
for tax pros. You know, the thetopic of AI has come up, you
know, more often than not withinthe last year, a ton. And I
kinda see this.
You know, you mentioned the thethe simple, seemingly simple
(17:05):
return, right, is very difficultin some sense. Because, yeah, it
it doesn't know exactly what youhave going on in your head if
you haven't projected that intoanywhere, like, oh, I'm gonna
move in six months. Well, asystem doesn't know that unless
you put it out there somehow.Now, yeah, sure. I can do a look
back and and do an analysis ofsome things, and that's helpful.
(17:25):
Right? But there's never gonnabe the easy automatic button.
There's an easier button, I'dsay, but there's no easy button
or a done button.
Chris Picciurro (17:34):
Exact and and you know what? The other thing
is, if you're in one of thelower to middle income
households, I would encourageyou to look up VITA, Voluntary
Income Tax Assistance. And infact, we we've been trying we've
been efforting to get someonefrom that organization on our as
a as a guest. There's somecomplimentary resources out
there that are maybe their CPAs,enrolled agents, tax
(17:57):
professionals that are retired.They still wanna help out.
They still wanna give back, andthey're very qualified to help
you with this type of credit. Sodon't think that you've got, you
know, that that don't be inthere's there's someone to help
everybody. Let's put it thatway. So
John Tripolsky (18:12):
Absolutely. In every situation.
Chris Picciurro (18:15):
I'm sorry?
John Tripolsky (18:15):
In every situation.
Chris Picciurro (18:17):
Literally. Situation. Absolutely. Let's get
back to this credit. Right?
So the actual percentage ofcontributions that qualify for
the credit based on those phaseouts is either gonna be 10% at
the low end, 20%, or up to 50%depending on where your income
falls. So let's run through aquick example. Let's say you're
single. You're looking tomingle. You've got $20,000 of
(18:37):
adjusted gross income, and goodjob.
You put 2,000 in your Roth IRA.Right? If a $20,000 worth of
income, you don't want to youdon't need to put money into a
traditional IRA. You put 2,000into a Roth. You know, you could
receive up to a 50,000, 50percent credit because you're
under the threshold for singlefilers.
That's a hun or that's a $1,000reduction of your tax bill.
(18:59):
That's that's real money in yourpocket. Right? Now let's keep in
mind, as I'm gonna reiterate andI've already discussed, these
credits are nonrefundable. So itcould reduce your tax liability
to zero, but you're not gonnaget a refund beyond that.
So and these have to be newcontributions. Rollover
contributions do not count. Nowthe final eligibility. There are
(19:27):
there is ultimately, you youtypically can't be dependent on
someone else's return, butthere's gonna be three basic
eligibility requirements. One,you must be at least 18 years
old.
Two, you can't be a full timestudent during the tax year. And
three, you can't be claimed as adependent on someone else's
return. So this credit worksgreat for someone that's just
(19:50):
getting into the workforce.They're no longer a student, and
and they're just gettingrolling. As you mentioned, and
put me on the spot a little, Idon't mind, form 8,880 is where
you're gonna claim that credit,And and, also, you get double
dip.
Right? Because this credit is inaddition to the deduction you're
getting if you are going pretaxwith with the contribution. So
(20:13):
think about this. If you putmoney into a four zero one k,
right, you're getting adeduction for that because it's
coming off your income, andyou're still getting the credit.
So you get to double dip.
You get that ice cream, but itburns calories once it gets in
your body if you're eligible forthis retirement savers credit.
John Tripolsky (20:29):
And I can think of a lot of situations like that
too. You mentioned, you know,that that criteria there at the
end. I think that is prettyimportant. You worded it
perfect. Right?
Like, they're not looking, andrightfully so, to offer this to
somebody who's a dependent,who's in school, because that is
just it's a it's a lot piling inand whatnot. But, I mean, I see
this as being, like you said,somebody that just got out of
(20:51):
school. And I and, you know, I'mI'm thinking of, you know, our
market specifically where Ilive. I mean, there's a lot of
guys that have gone to tradeschool, have gotten out, you
know, by the time they're 20years old. They're probably not
filing as a depend I mean, I'mjust making an assumption.
Probably not filing as adependent. They are in a
position kind of as a it's it'san internship ish, but it it's a
(21:14):
they're employed. So rightthere, when they get out of
this, they'll be making ahundred, hundred and 50, 2
hundred thousand dollars a year,say, you know, in the utility
world or anything like that. Butat this specific time, right,
they might only be making$40.45, 50. Like, what a perfect
position to be in becausethey're gonna get phased out
soon when they move on.
So take advantage of that littlewindow little window that
(21:36):
they're in.
Chris Picciurro (21:37):
Or yeah. And think about somebody that let's
say they've had a you know,let's look if someone maybe, you
know, that worked at at a largelarge corporation for many
years. And oh, actually, I'vegot one. I mean, let's let's
look at someone that might be afirefighter. Right?
They started maybe with the atage 20. At their age 50, which
(21:58):
is my age, they're already gonnabe ret they're retiring from the
and they still have Jews, orthey want a second career. Maybe
they don't maybe it behoovesthem to not draw their pension
right away. They have somesavings. So for the next couple
years, they might not make a tonof money.
Maybe they're working part timeas a substitute teacher, and
they wanna spend more time withtheir kids. They might be
(22:18):
eligible for this credit. Thepoint is for this credit, it's
all income based year to year.There's no asset level test. So
you could have $10,000,000 andget this credit if you meet the
income criteria.
John Tripolsky (22:30):
That is a excellent point. Like, yeah, a
lot of guys retire women retire,and then they go, you know,
like, I I I if it was up to me,I'd go be a greeter at Lowe's or
something like that. You know?And not Walmart. I'm not a
Walmart fan.
It's a whole another discussion.But, anyways, they
Chris Picciurro (22:45):
We know your feelings on Walmart. Unless you
say and Walmart, if you want asponsor, we could turn you it
around.
John Tripolsky (22:50):
Apps and Buc ee's. You know, if somebody
wants to go
Chris Picciurro (22:52):
Oh, no.
John Tripolsky (22:53):
Although there
Chris Picciurro (22:54):
yesterday, I don't wanna talk about it.
John Tripolsky (22:55):
I have to say it because you bring up pickleball
all the time. I I believe it wasa post that was put out by them.
They pay a crap ton
Chris Picciurro (23:03):
They do.
John Tripolsky (23:04):
For managers. And you But you also have to
deal with chaos. You know? Youknow what Detroit is?
Chris Picciurro (23:09):
They're usually in areas that are pretty low
cost of living because they'rethe middle between two big, big
cities. Like, we stopped in, Ithink, Athens, Alabama coming
home from baseball tournament atat the rodent's nest, I call.
And, yeah, I know I know beaversaren't rodents, but that's just
what I call them. But just realquick example since our wives
(23:31):
never listen to this, by theway. This is why I don't like
Buc ee's.
Okay? I'm gonna just put it outthere. In in this, you know, we
might lose you might you mighthit some unsubscribes. Right?
We're walking around likeidiots.
No. I'm not. I I I'd refuse toget any food there because I
know it's overpriced, and theygive you too much. And my wife
(23:52):
and daughter, like, put throwthings in the basket. Well,
that's our lunch for tomorrow.
Okay? I didn't get anything.What happens on the drive home?
I ended up with a full I hadchicken fingers and some
leftover because everyone elsegets overserved. And I'm like,
why do I wanna order a meal whenI know I'm gonna get leftover?
You know, I'm happy with whatthey order. But here's the
(24:12):
bugaboo, John. So if I would'veordered a meal for myself, I
would've just wasted money. Oh,and my I might I might have to
you're gonna have to remind mewhen this comes out because I'm
gonna make sure that that shelistens to this. Guess what's
sitting in my refrigerator rightnow?
John Tripolsky (24:26):
Oh, some leftovers.
Chris Picciurro (24:27):
No. The lunch they had to have Oh. For today
that they bought yesterday. So Ican't wait till they get home. I
know or I can't wait to openthat refrigerator up and show
them the lunch overpriced lunchthat they had to have.
John Tripolsky (24:41):
Although, on the flip side, then we will wrap
this up, and and we promise.When me and you go into Buc
ee's, we treat it like aspeedway. We get we fuel up. We
go in, grab maybe something, usethe restroom, and we're out.
It's like a six minuteexcursion.
We're a
Chris Picciurro (24:55):
machine, baby. We are a machine.
John Tripolsky (24:57):
You got it. You got it.
Chris Picciurro (24:58):
You need to be a machine when you do tax
planning. Hey. I'm happy to dothese episodes for our lower to
middle, moderate incomehouseholds in all seriousness.
It's not all about high income,high asset level taxpayers. So
hopefully, they they had anopportunity to listen to this,
and and maybe do a littleplanning, and make sure they
take advantage of the saverscredit.
John Tripolsky (25:20):
Yeah. Absolutely. And and as Chris
mentioned a little bit earlieron this too, if if you didn't
catch that, I'll say it again.Check out our private Facebook
group that's defeatingtaxes.com.We'll put that in the show notes
here as well too.
Direct link. Over 2,100 people,I believe, in there, a lot of
them actually are tax pros. Andhere's a good little tip for
anybody. If you do have aquestion that you say you don't
(25:41):
feel comfortable or don't havesomebody to ask, you can post it
in there publicly, or you canpost it anonymously.
Surprisingly, even a lot of theanonymous posts that get in
there get a lot of traction.
They get a lot of good answers.So don't feel that you have to
put all your business out there.Everybody's gonna know it.
They're gonna click on yourprofile. They're gonna see where
you live, your family pictures,all this stuff.
Post it anonymously if you haveto. Literally, that community is
(26:02):
built to help people that arepart of it. So as we continue
this journey of teaching taxflow, we'll see if we'll be back
here again next week on thepodcast. Different time, same
day of the week, completelydifferent topic. See you buddy
very soon.
Have a great week.
Disclaimer (26:22):
The content provided is educational purposes only. We
encourage you to seekpersonalized investment advice
from your financialprofessional. For all tax and
legal advice, please consultyour CPA or attorney. Investment
advisory services are offeredthrough Cabin Advisors,
investment adviser. Securitiesare offered through Cabin
Securities, a registered brokerdealer.
The content of this podcast doesnot constitute an offer of
(26:43):
securities. Offerings can onlybe made through an offering
memorandum, and you shouldcarefully examine the risk
factors and other informationcontained in the memorandum.
Hey, everybody, and welcome back to the Teaching
Tax Flow podcast, episode 132today. We are diving into the
retirement savings contributionscredit. Better yet, it's known
as a saver's credit. And Andbefore we get into this one in
detail and figure out if youqualify or somebody you know
does, let's take a brief momentand thank our episode sponsor.
Ad Read (00:24):
This podcast is brought to you by Legacy Lock. If you
are new to estate planning orsimply need to review your
current plan, Legacy Lock makesit as easy as pie. Legacy Lock
is a unique platform thatenables you to easily complete
your attorney drafted documentsconveniently from the comfort of
your home or office. Your firststep to this peace of mind is
simply visitingteachingtaxflow.com/legacy.
John Tripolsky (00:49):
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast
today. We are gonna dive into,as you've seen in the the show
title description there, we'regonna look at retirement savers
credit. So I have no ideaactually what this is, Chris. So
I brought my pen.
I got my paper. Let's hear allabout this here. I'm intrigued.
I'm intrigued, sir.
Chris Picciurro (01:09):
Well, you didn't welcome me back to my own
podcast this time, but I'm gonnawelcome myself back in. Thank
you for the thank you so muchfor the warm introduction.
John Tripolsky (01:16):
You know what it's like? It's almost like if I
was standing in the front doorof your own house inside, and
you came to walk into it andgrab the handle, And I opened it
up, and I was in there. It'slike, oh, well, welcome home,
sir. Welcome home.
Chris Picciurro (01:27):
Well, first of all, before we jump into this
topic, you know, I trulyappreciate we have seen a ton of
growth in our YouTube channel,teaching tax flow YouTube
channel, and our Defeating Taxesprivate Facebook group that's
defeatingtaxes.com orwww.feedingtexas.com. You know,
this isn't the sexiest topic wetalk about here on tax planning
(01:49):
and strategy, but our thefeedback from everyone has been
so kind, so encouraging, andactually, our topic ideas come
from you, the listeners, theviewers. So thank you so much.
We truly appreciate it. We donot take you for granted.
If you are listening on on anyof the major, you know, Spotify,
(02:11):
iTunes, etcetera, etcetera,just, you know, take two
seconds. Give us a like or jump.If you really wanna be our
friend, jump over to our YouTubechannel. The link's gonna be in
this podcast, and all you haveto do is hit subscribe. The cool
thing is we don't give you abunch of fluff and junk.
We give you some really goodcontent. And and, honestly, you
know, we we love doing this.This is complimentary content.
(02:36):
This is twenty plus years ofbeing as in the trenches as a
CPA, that you're gettingdelivered to your device. And,
you know, quite frankly, that'sthe least you could do is say,
thank you.
Good job. We appreciate you.Okay. I'm off my soapbox, John.
I'm coming in a little churse.
John Tripolsky (02:54):
Hey. It's all good, man. It's all good. You're
right. I mean, just the theaudience and the communities
that we have at these events onthese online communities, it's
great hearing what people whatpeople are interested in.
And obviously, we have the thedownloads to to prove it, that
people love this stuff.
Chris Picciurro (03:08):
For sure. So let's talk about the retirement
savers contribution credit. It'sa federal tax credit out there
available to all taxpayers. Ifyou meet the qualifications,
we're gonna talk about thequalifications. You might find
this online as called the,quote, unquote, savers credit.
(03:30):
And before we jump into thedetails, I want you to remember
one of the three laws ofteaching tax flow that tax
agencies are your involuntarybusiness partner. Tax laws are
written to what? Encourage ordiscourage behavior. That could
be financial. That could besocial.
This happens to be a financial,action that they're encouraging.
(03:55):
And we know that not enoughpeople in The United States are
putting money away intoretirement, specifically people
in lower to moderate incomehouseholds. So what the IRS is
doing is they're saying, youknow what? You might you might
have an employer that matchesyour retirement plan
(04:16):
contributions, or you might not.But guess what?
We're gonna be a double bonusemployer. If you meet the
qualifications, we're gonnamatch your retirement savings
contributions for you in theform of a credit. That's free
money. Credits are not taxable.So this is a really great
(04:36):
opportunity for people to takeadvantage of this credit.
Many listeners might already bereceiving this credit and might
not know it because sometimespeople just look at the bottom
line of of their tax, and dothey receive a refund, or do
they have a balance due? By theway, if you have a balance due,
that doesn't necessarily meanyou did anything quote unquote
wrong. It just means you didn'tpay in enough during the year to
(04:58):
cover the tax that's due. If youwanna change that, if you wanna
control your tax, you do that bytax planning. Remember, the IRS
picks your federal tax, andallows you take control, and you
do tax planning and strategy,then you get to pick your tax.
John Tripolsky (05:12):
And, you know, Chris, you you mentioned it's a
credit. Right? And I think aneasy way to kinda get that
across your drive at home.Right? It's basically like extra
credit, you know, back in backin school days.
Like, you have to do somethingto get that credit. They just
don't hand it to you for theheck of it. Right? Like, you
have to, I should say,contribute to get the match.
(05:33):
Right?
They're you're just not gonnaget it. They're not gonna dump
money into a retirement accountfor you. That's not a that's not
what we're talking about here.
Chris Picciurro (05:39):
Right. Right. Exactly. That is that is true.
You're right.
So the credit you get, it's likeextra credit. You get credit for
for for doing that. Well, let'sjump into the savers credit.
Okay? Couple things we have toremember.
A credit and a deduction are twodifferent things. I know we have
a ton of content in teaching taxone on the YouTube channel about
(06:01):
that, but a credit is typicallybetter than a deduction. A
credit is a dollar figure thatbenefits you. A deduction is a
an amount that you reduce yourtaxable income by. And then your
credits come in two differentshapes and sizes.
Right? You've got refundable.You've got nonrefundable.
Refundable credits are bettertypically than nonrefundable
(06:23):
credits, meaning a refund ugh.Easy for me to say.
A refundable credit a refundablecredit means that even if you
don't have tax, you get thatrefunded to you. The vast
majority of their credits arenonrefundable, which means you
get the credit, and it offsetsfederal tax if you have federal
(06:44):
tax to pay. And now that thatcould ultimately give you a
larger refund. The savers creditis a refund or is a
nonrefundable tax credit. Soit's a federal nonrefundable tax
credit.
And again, it's really there toencourage low to moderate income
individuals to save forretirement. Now let's start with
(07:05):
some good news, John. The creditapplies to many different
qualifying retirement accounts,not just tax deferred accounts.
Right? So it's traditional IRAs,Roth IRAs.
So think about this, John. Youcould potentially put money into
a Roth. You're in a lower tomoderate income household. You
(07:26):
don't necessarily need that taxdeduction today. So you're
putting money into that Roth.
It's gonna grow tax free, whichis amazing, and get distributed
tax free, and you're gonna get aretirement saver's credit.
That's like the double dip.Right? You're getting paid to
put money away tax free.
John Tripolsky (07:43):
Right. Wow. That's about the equivalent to
as good as it gets with the IRSkeeping their grubby hands off
your dollars.
Chris Picciurro (07:49):
Mhmm. Yeah.
John Tripolsky (07:50):
I'd like against the IRS completely, but I
Chris Picciurro (07:52):
know you're not a big sweets guy, John, but, you
know, I have a sweet tooth. Youcan have this big scoop of ice
cream, and it you know, it'sgonna taste great. You're gonna
eat it. And when it gets in yourbody, it's gonna burn 2,000
calories for you without doingany exercise. So think about
that.
So what retirement accounts areeligible for their savers
credit? Traditional IRAs, RothIRAs, four zero one k's, four
(08:18):
zero three b's, four fifty sevenb plans, which is for typically
for, like, a school district ornonprofit, and even able
accounts are are open are areavailable for those credits. So
bottom line is pretty much everyalmost every type of I mean,
SAPs, I think I mentioned.Almost almost every type of
retirement account is eligiblefor you to get the credit,
(08:41):
meaning if you make acontribution. So step one, you
have to make a contribution to aretirement account.
Pretty much any type ofretirement account is eligible.
And bingo bango, as a famousDetroit Red Wings commentator
used to say when I think youknow who I'm talking about.
Didn't that was it Mickey Redmanwho say
John Tripolsky (09:01):
I think so. I was just jogging my memory. I'm
like, I believe it was Redman.
Chris Picciurro (09:06):
Don't know why I remember just listening
hearing that. Anyway, you you'reeligible for the credit even if
it's a Roth. Okay. So thissounds great. So far, we're
doing good.
What's the credit looking like?Well, the credit is up to a
thousand dollars for anindividual and up to $2,000 for
a married filing joint. Now,again, that might not sound like
(09:29):
big numbers, but look at at theper for the people that are
gonna be eligible for thatcredit, that could be a
significant amount of theirdisposable income. The bottom
line is it's found money. Right?
You're getting paid to put moneyin your retirement account. Not
too shabby, John. Not tooshabby. Now here's where it gets
a little trickier. Right?
Because the credit is limitedbased on income. Alright? And
(09:54):
that driver is gonna be one oftwo things, your adjusted gross
income and your filing status.Adjusted gross income, you know
that well, you know, we likeacronyms. John, you're supposed
to make and maybe you will byonce you edit this podcast.
You're supposed to make a soundeffect whenever we use an
acronym here in the teaching taxflow podcast.
John Tripolsky (10:14):
It's gonna be like a toilet flushing or
something completely unrelated
Chris Picciurro (10:18):
to That's fine. As long as we have one, and I'm
gonna be listening. When thispodcast goes live, I really hope
there is a sound effect, but I'mgonna use an acronym called AGI,
adjusted gross income. It's avery common acronym in the tax
planning and strategy andpreparation community. So your
AGI and your filing statusdetermine your eligibility for
(10:41):
this credit on top of, did youput money away?
Right? So if you put money intoa qualifying plan, that's step
one. And the next step's gonnabe, do you get to you know, are
you bay do you are you eligiblebased on income? So let's listen
up. For 2025, we're using 2025numbers.
(11:01):
They're adjusted for inflationtypically. So if your 2024
returns on extension, thenumbers might be just a touch
different. But for marriedfiling joint couples, the credit
begins to phase out at $46,000of adjusted gross income, and
it's completely phased out at76,500. So let me take a step
back. When we're talk this getsreally confusing for taxpayers
(11:25):
because their credits also, weknow that they're you could be
refundable or nonrefundable, butsome credits have what we call a
cliff.
Some credits have a phase out.Right? A cliff means you get the
full credit until you go $1 overthe limit, and then you fall off
the cliff and you get nothing.Hopefully, that doesn't happen,
(11:45):
you know, physically. Othercredits phase out gradually.
So you could be eligible for thefull credit, but if your income
goes up, it's a sliding scalethat you get a little bit less
of a credit. So in general,married filing joint couple,
$152,500 of adjusted grossincome or less are gonna be
eligible for at least a partialcredit. Under $46,000 is
(12:10):
eligible for the full credit,which could be up to $2,000. So
think about that taxpayer. Let'ssay they have $45,000 of
adjusted gross income.
Now when you look at thenumbers, the average household
income in The United States,it's you know, we talk it's it's
somewhat in line with the toppart of these phase out. Tax
(12:31):
this is what I keep saying istax planning is for everybody at
every income level. It's notjust for people with a lot of
assets and a lot of income. AndI would argue, and you've you've
heard you've been around meenough, John, where I I keep
beating this drum, that it'sactually, in many ways, more
important for lower to moderateincome families because that
(12:52):
extra $2,000 is a huge, hugedeal for them. You know?
So married filing joint, let'ssay you're at $45,000 of
adjusted gross income, andyou've put money into a
retirement account, even a Roth.Right? I would encourage someone
to put money into the Roth atthis point. Well, in that case,
(13:14):
you could still get that creditbecause you don't need the
deduction at that income level.So those are the phase outs
2025.
'40 '6 thousand of AGI, 76,005for married filing joint. Let's
talk about head of household. Sohead of household is a filing
status when you have aqualifying dependent and you are
unmarried. The phase out's alittle different. Alright?
(13:34):
That phase out starts occurringat 34,500. So if you have 34,500
of AGI or less, full crediteligible. It starts to phase
out, and it completely phase outphases out at about $57,400.
That's for 2025. And then singlefilers are married filing
separately.
(13:55):
It's interesting, though,because 99 of the time, it's
better for married couples tofile jointly. This might be one
of those unique situations whereit makes sense to file
separately. There's a coupleunique situations, but those
phase outs are a little less. Sofor a single taxpayer or married
filing separate, it the thephase out begins at $23,000 of
(14:17):
adjusted gross income andcompletely phase out phases out
at about $38,000 of adjustedgross income. So again
John Tripolsky (14:24):
And I and I know we kinda ran through a lot there
as far as for the numbers, youknow, how how and what. Really,
really kind of a dumb question,but not really. Say somebody's
preparing their own taxes atthis point or or they're working
with somebody who just happensto do them for them. Maybe it's
a family member or somethingthat, you know, they just kinda
we won't call it. They pushpapers, but it's a pretty simple
return.
So in in in this case, if theyif they qualify for this, I
(14:46):
mean, is is this somethingthat's just a line item on a
return, or or what did it whatdo they have to do to get this
credit if they qualify for it?
Chris Picciurro (14:54):
Right. If they qualify for it, yep. They just
file they just file a separateform. I wanna say it's a form
eighty eight eighty. Gosh.
I hate to
John Tripolsky (15:03):
I hate because I know you haven't seen the you
probably haven't seen too manyof these at all. So this is like
asking me what I had forbreakfast in, you know, 02/2002.
Chris Picciurro (15:10):
No. That's alright. No. It is oh my gosh.
Just is an $88.80.
So you file a form eighty eighteighty. Put that in the show
notes, please. And also, I getmy name on the board, and then
with a plus, I get extra recesstime because I did my homework.
John Tripolsky (15:23):
I'll put you a star on the board, sir. Yeah.
Here you go. You get a star onthe board.
Chris Picciurro (15:26):
A form eighty eight eighty. You file that with
your personal tax return. Sothat's something that you just
file as part of your return. Nowif you're working with a tax
professional or yeah. They'regonna pick 99 of the time,
they're gonna pick this up.
Right? If you're not workingwith a tax professional, then
you've gotta make sure thatyou're you're putting the
numbers on the right spots ifyou're doing a self prepared
(15:49):
return. You know, when whenyou're looking at w two, that's
why I mean, when you look atthat w two, it's funny. I just
talked to my business partner onour private CPA, you know, our
private CPA firm that you knowwell, and and we we're talking.
He was actually working on hissister's tax return who changed
states midway through the year,and I'm like, man and she's a
(16:12):
teacher.
I'm like, dude, that's why I'mtelling you, there is no such
thing as an easy tax return.Nothing is easy. If you mess up
let's say you have someone witha w two wage of $35,000 and they
put money into their traditionalIRA, that's nowhere on the w
two, and you didn't realize thatyou screwed up a tax return. Or
(16:34):
if you have a w two with a bunchof numbers in it with employer
match and pretax HSA and this,that, and other thing, it's so
easy to screw up. Right?
So
John Tripolsky (16:44):
And I know we've been at, you know, we've been
at, again, events,conversations, podcasts. We've
done it on, on the Mr. R show,which is a podcast specifically
for tax pros. You know, the thetopic of AI has come up, you
know, more often than not withinthe last year, a ton. And I
kinda see this.
You know, you mentioned the thethe simple, seemingly simple
(17:05):
return, right, is very difficultin some sense. Because, yeah, it
it doesn't know exactly what youhave going on in your head if
you haven't projected that intoanywhere, like, oh, I'm gonna
move in six months. Well, asystem doesn't know that unless
you put it out there somehow.Now, yeah, sure. I can do a look
back and and do an analysis ofsome things, and that's helpful.
(17:25):
Right? But there's never gonnabe the easy automatic button.
There's an easier button, I'dsay, but there's no easy button
or a done button.
Chris Picciurro (17:34):
Exact and and you know what? The other thing
is, if you're in one of thelower to middle income
households, I would encourageyou to look up VITA, Voluntary
Income Tax Assistance. And infact, we we've been trying we've
been efforting to get someonefrom that organization on our as
a as a guest. There's somecomplimentary resources out
there that are maybe their CPAs,enrolled agents, tax
(17:57):
professionals that are retired.They still wanna help out.
They still wanna give back, andthey're very qualified to help
you with this type of credit. Sodon't think that you've got, you
know, that that don't be inthere's there's someone to help
everybody. Let's put it thatway. So
John Tripolsky (18:12):
Absolutely. In every situation.
Chris Picciurro (18:15):
I'm sorry?
John Tripolsky (18:15):
In every situation.
Chris Picciurro (18:17):
Literally. Situation. Absolutely. Let's get
back to this credit. Right?
So the actual percentage ofcontributions that qualify for
the credit based on those phaseouts is either gonna be 10% at
the low end, 20%, or up to 50%depending on where your income
falls. So let's run through aquick example. Let's say you're
single. You're looking tomingle. You've got $20,000 of
(18:37):
adjusted gross income, and goodjob.
You put 2,000 in your Roth IRA.Right? If a $20,000 worth of
income, you don't want to youdon't need to put money into a
traditional IRA. You put 2,000into a Roth. You know, you could
receive up to a 50,000, 50percent credit because you're
under the threshold for singlefilers.
That's a hun or that's a $1,000reduction of your tax bill.
(18:59):
That's that's real money in yourpocket. Right? Now let's keep in
mind, as I'm gonna reiterate andI've already discussed, these
credits are nonrefundable. So itcould reduce your tax liability
to zero, but you're not gonnaget a refund beyond that.
So and these have to be newcontributions. Rollover
contributions do not count. Nowthe final eligibility. There are
(19:27):
there is ultimately, you youtypically can't be dependent on
someone else's return, butthere's gonna be three basic
eligibility requirements. One,you must be at least 18 years
old.
Two, you can't be a full timestudent during the tax year. And
three, you can't be claimed as adependent on someone else's
return. So this credit worksgreat for someone that's just
(19:50):
getting into the workforce.They're no longer a student, and
and they're just gettingrolling. As you mentioned, and
put me on the spot a little, Idon't mind, form 8,880 is where
you're gonna claim that credit,And and, also, you get double
dip.
Right? Because this credit is inaddition to the deduction you're
getting if you are going pretaxwith with the contribution. So
(20:13):
think about this. If you putmoney into a four zero one k,
right, you're getting adeduction for that because it's
coming off your income, andyou're still getting the credit.
So you get to double dip.
You get that ice cream, but itburns calories once it gets in
your body if you're eligible forthis retirement savers credit.
John Tripolsky (20:29):
And I can think of a lot of situations like that
too. You mentioned, you know,that that criteria there at the
end. I think that is prettyimportant. You worded it
perfect. Right?
Like, they're not looking, andrightfully so, to offer this to
somebody who's a dependent,who's in school, because that is
just it's a it's a lot piling inand whatnot. But, I mean, I see
this as being, like you said,somebody that just got out of
(20:51):
school. And I and, you know, I'mI'm thinking of, you know, our
market specifically where Ilive. I mean, there's a lot of
guys that have gone to tradeschool, have gotten out, you
know, by the time they're 20years old. They're probably not
filing as a depend I mean, I'mjust making an assumption.
Probably not filing as adependent. They are in a
position kind of as a it's it'san internship ish, but it it's a
(21:14):
they're employed. So rightthere, when they get out of
this, they'll be making ahundred, hundred and 50, 2
hundred thousand dollars a year,say, you know, in the utility
world or anything like that. Butat this specific time, right,
they might only be making$40.45, 50. Like, what a perfect
position to be in becausethey're gonna get phased out
soon when they move on.
So take advantage of that littlewindow little window that
(21:36):
they're in.
Chris Picciurro (21:37):
Or yeah. And think about somebody that let's
say they've had a you know,let's look if someone maybe, you
know, that worked at at a largelarge corporation for many
years. And oh, actually, I'vegot one. I mean, let's let's
look at someone that might be afirefighter. Right?
They started maybe with the atage 20. At their age 50, which
(21:58):
is my age, they're already gonnabe ret they're retiring from the
and they still have Jews, orthey want a second career. Maybe
they don't maybe it behoovesthem to not draw their pension
right away. They have somesavings. So for the next couple
years, they might not make a tonof money.
Maybe they're working part timeas a substitute teacher, and
they wanna spend more time withtheir kids. They might be
(22:18):
eligible for this credit. Thepoint is for this credit, it's
all income based year to year.There's no asset level test. So
you could have $10,000,000 andget this credit if you meet the
income criteria.
John Tripolsky (22:30):
That is a excellent point. Like, yeah, a
lot of guys retire women retire,and then they go, you know,
like, I I I if it was up to me,I'd go be a greeter at Lowe's or
something like that. You know?And not Walmart. I'm not a
Walmart fan.
It's a whole another discussion.But, anyways, they
Chris Picciurro (22:45):
We know your feelings on Walmart. Unless you
say and Walmart, if you want asponsor, we could turn you it
around.
John Tripolsky (22:50):
Apps and Buc ee's. You know, if somebody
wants to go
Chris Picciurro (22:52):
Oh, no.
John Tripolsky (22:53):
Although there
Chris Picciurro (22:54):
yesterday, I don't wanna talk about it.
John Tripolsky (22:55):
I have to say it because you bring up pickleball
all the time. I I believe it wasa post that was put out by them.
They pay a crap ton
Chris Picciurro (23:03):
They do.
John Tripolsky (23:04):
For managers. And you But you also have to
deal with chaos. You know? Youknow what Detroit is?
Chris Picciurro (23:09):
They're usually in areas that are pretty low
cost of living because they'rethe middle between two big, big
cities. Like, we stopped in, Ithink, Athens, Alabama coming
home from baseball tournament atat the rodent's nest, I call.
And, yeah, I know I know beaversaren't rodents, but that's just
what I call them. But just realquick example since our wives
(23:31):
never listen to this, by theway. This is why I don't like
Buc ee's.
Okay? I'm gonna just put it outthere. In in this, you know, we
might lose you might you mighthit some unsubscribes. Right?
We're walking around likeidiots.
No. I'm not. I I I'd refuse toget any food there because I
know it's overpriced, and theygive you too much. And my wife
(23:52):
and daughter, like, put throwthings in the basket. Well,
that's our lunch for tomorrow.
Okay? I didn't get anything.What happens on the drive home?
I ended up with a full I hadchicken fingers and some
leftover because everyone elsegets overserved. And I'm like,
why do I wanna order a meal whenI know I'm gonna get leftover?
You know, I'm happy with whatthey order. But here's the
(24:12):
bugaboo, John. So if I would'veordered a meal for myself, I
would've just wasted money. Oh,and my I might I might have to
you're gonna have to remind mewhen this comes out because I'm
gonna make sure that that shelistens to this. Guess what's
sitting in my refrigerator rightnow?
John Tripolsky (24:26):
Oh, some leftovers.
Chris Picciurro (24:27):
No. The lunch they had to have Oh. For today
that they bought yesterday. So Ican't wait till they get home. I
know or I can't wait to openthat refrigerator up and show
them the lunch overpriced lunchthat they had to have.
John Tripolsky (24:41):
Although, on the flip side, then we will wrap
this up, and and we promise.When me and you go into Buc
ee's, we treat it like aspeedway. We get we fuel up. We
go in, grab maybe something, usethe restroom, and we're out.
It's like a six minuteexcursion.
We're a
Chris Picciurro (24:55):
machine, baby. We are a machine.
John Tripolsky (24:57):
You got it. You got it.
Chris Picciurro (24:58):
You need to be a machine when you do tax
planning. Hey. I'm happy to dothese episodes for our lower to
middle, moderate incomehouseholds in all seriousness.
It's not all about high income,high asset level taxpayers. So
hopefully, they they had anopportunity to listen to this,
and and maybe do a littleplanning, and make sure they
take advantage of the saverscredit.
John Tripolsky (25:20):
Yeah. Absolutely. And and as Chris
mentioned a little bit earlieron this too, if if you didn't
catch that, I'll say it again.Check out our private Facebook
group that's defeatingtaxes.com.We'll put that in the show notes
here as well too.
Direct link. Over 2,100 people,I believe, in there, a lot of
them actually are tax pros. Andhere's a good little tip for
anybody. If you do have aquestion that you say you don't
(25:41):
feel comfortable or don't havesomebody to ask, you can post it
in there publicly, or you canpost it anonymously.
Surprisingly, even a lot of theanonymous posts that get in
there get a lot of traction.
They get a lot of good answers.So don't feel that you have to
put all your business out there.Everybody's gonna know it.
They're gonna click on yourprofile. They're gonna see where
you live, your family pictures,all this stuff.
Post it anonymously if you haveto. Literally, that community is
(26:02):
built to help people that arepart of it. So as we continue
this journey of teaching taxflow, we'll see if we'll be back
here again next week on thepodcast. Different time, same
day of the week, completelydifferent topic. See you buddy
very soon.
Have a great week.
Disclaimer (26:22):
The content provided is educational purposes only. We
encourage you to seekpersonalized investment advice
from your financialprofessional. For all tax and
legal advice, please consultyour CPA or attorney. Investment
advisory services are offeredthrough Cabin Advisors,
investment adviser. Securitiesare offered through Cabin
Securities, a registered brokerdealer.
The content of this podcast doesnot constitute an offer of
(26:43):
securities. Offerings can onlybe made through an offering
memorandum, and you shouldcarefully examine the risk
factors and other informationcontained in the memorandum.
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