Has anyone actually tried setting up a Roth IRA for a minor? Which companies make this easy? My son is interested but I'm not sure where to start with the actual account setup.

Great question! I've been researching this exact scenario for my own kids. The key distinction the IRS makes is between "chores" (which are considered part of normal family responsibilities) and legitimate business activities. For your specific situation with the $20 lawn mowing, if it's just your family's lawn as part of regular household chores, it typically won't qualify as earned income for IRA purposes. However, there are a few ways to make this work legitimately: 1. Help your son start an actual lawn service business where he services multiple properties in the neighborhood, not just yours. This creates genuine self-employment income. 2. If you have a business (even a side business), you could formally employ him to do lawn maintenance, office cleaning, or other legitimate business tasks at reasonable wages. 3. Consider other entrepreneurial opportunities - many teens successfully run small businesses like pet sitting, tutoring younger kids, or selling items they make. The important thing is that the work and payment need to have genuine business purpose beyond just family chores. Once he has legitimate earned income, he can contribute up to 100% of that income to a Roth IRA (up to the annual limit of $7,000 for 2025). Keep detailed records of any payments and work performed. This early start on retirement savings is an amazing gift - compound interest over 50+ years will be incredible!

I'm not tech savvy at all, but found that TaxAct has a free calculator that doesn't require registration for basic calculations. My son showed me how to use it and I didn't have to give them any personal info at all - just put in my w2 numbers and it showed what my refund would be.

I've been in the exact same boat - so frustrating when you just want to double-check some numbers without handing over your life story! One option I found that actually works is the Tax Foundation's tax calculator. It's completely anonymous, no signup required, and handles most common tax situations including standard/itemized deductions. Another route that worked for me was using the IRS's own Interactive Tax Assistant (ITA) tool. It's buried on their website but it walks you through tax calculations without requiring any personal info - just search "ITA" on irs.gov. It's not the prettiest interface but it's accurate since it comes straight from the source. For what it's worth, I also keep a simple Excel template with the current year's tax brackets and standard deduction amounts. Takes a bit of setup but once you have it, you can run quick calculations anytime without dealing with websites at all.

I went through something very similar last year! My 1099-NEC had an old address from before I moved, and I was panicking about whether to file or wait for a correction. After reading through IRS guidelines and talking to a tax professional, I learned that the address on the 1099 really doesn't impact your filing. The critical elements the IRS matching system looks for are your SSN and the income amount. Since both of those are correct on your form ($4,250 and your SSN), you're absolutely fine to file using your current address on your tax return. The IRS will accept the return without any issues. I'd echo what others have said about contacting the company to update your address for next year's forms - it's worth a quick call or email to prevent this same situation in 2026. But definitely don't let this delay your current year filing. The tax deadline will be here before you know it, and there's no reason to wait when you have all the correct information you need to file!

I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - got my 1099 with my old address from before I moved last summer. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful! It's reassuring to see so many people confirming that the address discrepancy won't cause issues with filing. I was initially worried about potential audit flags or matching problems, but it sounds like the IRS systems are really focused on the SSN and income amount alignment, not the address details. Since those core elements are correct on your 1099 (and mine), we should both be good to proceed with filing using our current addresses. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and professional insights - this thread has saved me from unnecessary stress and potential delays!

Great thread with lots of helpful insights! I went through this exact situation with my Aetna disability payments earlier this year. One thing I'd add is to check if your employer continues any benefits during your disability leave that might affect your tax situation. In my case, my company continued paying their portion of my health insurance premiums, which meant I had less taxable income than I initially calculated. This actually reduced the amount I needed to have withheld. I had to adjust my W-4S form mid-way through my leave to avoid over-withholding. Also, if you're planning to return to work part-way through the tax year, remember that your regular paycheck withholding will resume, so you don't want to double up and have too much withheld overall. I used a simple spreadsheet to track my total projected income and withholding across both my disability payments and expected regular paychecks for the remainder of the year. The key is looking at your total annual tax picture, not just the disability payment period in isolation.

This is such a helpful discussion! I'm dealing with a similar W-4S situation right now with my Aflac disability coverage. One thing I learned from my tax preparer that might be useful - if you're married filing jointly, make sure to consider your spouse's income and withholding when determining your disability withholding rate. In my case, my spouse's regular paycheck withholding was already covering a good portion of our combined tax liability, so I didn't need to withhold as much from my disability payments as I initially thought. We calculated that withholding about 15% from my disability pay (compared to the 22% from my regular paychecks) would keep us on track. Also, don't forget that if you're paying for your own disability insurance premiums with after-tax dollars, those payments are generally not taxable when you receive them. But if your employer pays the premiums (which sounds like your case with MetLife), then the benefits are taxable. This distinction can significantly impact how much you need to withhold.

Just finished dealing with this. I found the most confusing part was column C in Schedule A Part 1 where you have to list donor's adjusted basis. For real estate that's appreciated a lot, this number can be WAY different from the FMV you're reporting. Make sure you have good records of what you originally paid + any capital improvements. Without that you're just guessing at your basis which could cause problems later. Also heads up - you might need to file a state gift tax return too depending on where you live. I had to file in Connecticut and that was a whole separate headache.

I went through a similar nightmare with Form 709 last year! One thing that really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet to track everything before filling out the actual form. I made columns for: property description, full FMV, my basis, spouse's portion, and my portion. For the split gift reporting, remember that even though you're each filing separate 709s, the gift splitting election applies to ALL gifts made during the tax year by either spouse - not just this one property. So if either of you made any other gifts during the year (even small ones), those need to be reported consistently with the splitting election. Also, double-check that you're using the correct annual exclusion amounts. For 2024, it's $18,000 per recipient ($36,000 if splitting), but make sure you're using the right year's limits for when the gift was actually made. The deadline stress is real, but you've got this! The IRS is generally reasonable about gift tax issues if you make a good faith effort to comply.