You can definitely have 2 (or even more really) plans. Dual coverage is relatively common.

The stock is probably going to be worthless, so don't consider this a huge loss.

That said, my company did a layoff and I'm 99% sure they accelerated option vesting for those affected.

Sounds about right. Not sure if your impression was that US taxes were extremely low, but that's mostly a myth.

The IRS (and really Congress) are the authority. Amazon lists items as FSA eligible so their purchase system accepts FSA cards.

> will I be reimbursed 99

Should be $99. You should request this amount and not the $100. In my experience FSA providers are lazy/incompetent. I had one reject my LASIK claim even though I uploaded the bill from my doctor that had all the billing codes and amounts. However, the bill had a boilerplate box that said "Insurance pending: $0". They rejected it because this evidently meant that insurance may have been paying and you can't double dip.

Not sure what specifics of your plan are, but the provider is probably saying it's a bad idea because now you have less money invested or earning interest.

Is this a UK thing? I can't find an American reference to SERPS so people here will likely be unfamiliar with UK retirement systems.

> even when they offer me the option to do it?

You can do lots of things, doesn't mean they're a good idea.

You can (and probably) should do a will for the house at least. But you can also set the Humane Society as the beneficiary/payable on death on your bank accounts, 401k, etc. They will get the money regardless of the will.

> My goal here is to lower my taxable income as much as possible so I can keep as much cash on hand to save up for our first rental property

You don't get it both ways. The best way for W2 workers to reduce tax liability is to save for retirement with a 401k.

You'll need to pay for the stolen car and if the bank finds out it's been stolen the loan balance is likely due immediately.

They don't. The IRS will if they ever audit you. Half our tax system is based on the honor system.

Yes to both but you can't use your HSA on her expenses and she can't use hers on any of your expenses like a married couple can.

You're never going to get $1,100 sent to you. The cost of your ACA plan is just reduced by that amount and the gov picks up the cost in the background.

ACA subsidies have nothing to do with your tax refund.

As you get closer to retirement, you shift your asset allocation away (not completely) from stocks and more towards bonds/fixed income/etc. You also don't withdraw your whole account at once. Most of your money stays invested.

Stocks go up and down. You need to measure performance in decades not 11 months.

A savings account is not going to generate anywhere near enough growth to let you retire. Until recently, rates were like 1% on HYSA.

You get a job and if you already have one, you save up over time.

Why would you pay $30/month? Do Swedish credit cards have a monthly fee?

Call and talk to someone at CalSavers.

> Is letting the pretax grow untouched better than the benefit I get from using pretax dollars for health costs?

Yes.

> So essentially if I never claim ANY reimbursements through HSA or use my HSA for anything, would the cost difference between pretax and after tax be significant enough to make using the HSA funds worth it?

I don't exactly know what this means. There's no such thing as an after tax HSA. And you claim reimbursements later in life.

> How can I best determine the value of each decision?

If scenario A: contribute to HSA. Invest account balance. Pay medical expenses from other cash. Save receipts for medical expenses along way. Reimburse yourself later.

If scenario B: contribute to HSA. Pay medical bills from HSA as you incur then.

Scenario A wins.

I have multiple checking accounts for sign up bonuses. The debit cards sit in a drawer.

> If your parents are divorced or separated and don’t live together, answer the questions about the parent with whom you lived more during the past 12 months.

> If you lived the same amount of time with each divorced or separated parent, give answers about the parent who provided more financial support during the past 12 months or during the most recent 12 months that you actually received support from a parent

https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/how-to-complete-fafsa-if-parents-divorced-separated

You'll probably need to post a redacted screenshot of your actual paystub for detailed help. I can get close on most of your withholdings on www.paycheckcity.com but not all. Something is wrong with your numbers or your W4. Or possibly your employer's payroll.

Your net pay looks mostly correct, federal a bit too high maybe. Can be fixed by accurately filling out the W4.

That disability policy is killing you though.

It's interesting it took months to even get the CPT codes. In their case, their insurance processed the claim seemingly quick. Their EOB should have had the codes.

I don't know much it actually works, but my employer has this service (I think it's through their insurance broker?) where we can submit bills and a "specialist" is supposed to be able to assist with questions or explain charges. Not sure if they have some inside line to our insurer or not.

I think the real key point is that the service in question truly never happened and was the wrong CPT code. Of course, her knowledge played a role.

Most of the posts here about "get the itemized bill" think that there's just going to be line after line of phantom services. $5000 drugs you never received. $50,000 MRIs when you never stepped foot in a scanner.

90% of the time (ok maybe less), the bill is accurate, just expensive.

You only need a letter of medical necessity for certain items. You don't for sunscreen.