I know that sounds a bit harsh, but when people are taking your advice at face value, it should always be well researched.

We also decided that if was during summer we would simply make it our yearly visit and use vacation time/money. We’ve made this trip almost yearly since we moved 9 years ago, so we’ve got the overnight trip down to a science. Hopefully by the time this occurs we’ll have gotten a newer minivan that will be more reliable than our ’95 Jeep.

I will definitely be looking into Amtrack and Greyhound fares (we have a bus station 10 miles away) and do some pricing and make note of the logistics and tuck it away for future reference.

Thanks to all the good counsel!

With respect to bereavement discounts, I recently flew and tried to get them. It’s a crock, those discounts will be on the full price ticket based on the day you’re trying to fly, which means you lose all discounts for buying early and the fair is highly inflated. United wanted $1200 for a round trip ticket, Delta $900, I went Southwest and it was something like $300 with no discounts.

Finally, while it would be nice for the kids and the husband to be there, do you all have to go? It would be easier and cheaper is just you or you and your oldest went if you did want to fly. Just something else to consider.

And it is not at all morbid to be thinking ahead.

And for those who are not only traveling a distance for a relative funeral, but have to arrange it from a distance, consider this:

Also, many funeral homes now offer detailed information on pricing online (and work sheets) so that you can estimate costs.

One of the most important things you can do, especially given the distance, is to have picked out a funeral parlor/service locally IN ADVANCE of when you need it.

our mother died in an ALF on Christmas day. Within five minutes of being notified of her death (I was several thousand miles away), we had to supply the name of a funeral parlor, contact information and had to make arrangements to have her body picked up within the hour (seriously).

Had I not already looked into and vetted a local parlor, we would have been at the mercy of whoever had approached the ALF and established a “relationship.” I would have had no options on price.

FYI: The company I chose was family owned, in business for over 30 years, in good standing with local BBB, known by several locals (though not my mother) and held in high regard. Even then, there were some issues that complicated things (there are ALWAYS extras and you need many original death certificates, which are less expensive when you order them initially).

If money is a concern among the many factors affecting post-death planning, you should have your loved ones consider cremation. (This assumes it raises no religious issues.) And if the family member has NOT specified their wishes, don’t be pressured by others to have a casket, etc. There are many many expenses involved and it can end up with many families incurring unnecessary debt that their loved one would not want.

Unclutter.com has a great posts on these costs and preparing in advance for them.

No matter how old you are, YOU should be planning ahead and leaving specific instructions (and making provisions for the costs) for your own passing. It’s not morbid, it’s considerate of those you love and leave behind.

Last I heard, it costs the U.S. Mint more than one cent to mint a penny. If people would wrap their coins in a timely manner and deposit them at a bank or credit union, the coins would stay in circulation — fewer coins would need to be minted, and the government would not have to spend as much money on metals and on minting coins.

You have a lot of sharp readers who called you on the Roth contribution deadline. You probably made a logical assumption about the deadline. There’s your mistake…never assume tax law is logical. You can’t really count on that.

Another assumption you made is that the IRS would likely not want to renegotiate a wage garnishment.
This is probably not true. I work for the IRS, and wage garnishment is the last resort after multiple attempts to contact a taxpayer and work out a voluntary arrangement. Tom’s friend could well benefit from a phone call to find out what her options are. The interest rate she is paying is currently three percent, it’s based on prevailing interest rates and subject to change quarterly. But there is a penalty called the failure to pay penalty that is reduced considerably when a taxpayer enters into a voluntary payment arrangement.

Also, she can order a record of her account for each year she owes, which will give her details about her balance and any payments made, voluntary or not.

Of course, as you noted, none of that will be helpful to her unless she is willing to take action. But, sometimes, just offering moral support and encouragement is enough to help someone face his or her problems.

I hope that helps.

Trent often has some good parenting advice. Might be a new blog idea?

Q5: Trent, did you do ANY research at all on this question, like maybe googling “IRA contribution deadline”? Your answer, as many others have pointed out, is totally incorrect. The deadline for 2010 contributions is April 18, 2011. Since a Roth IRA uses after-tax dollars, it will not affect your tax return, but if you plan to make contributions to a traditional IRA after your submit your return, you can put down your intended contribution as a tax deduction.

Her participation a few years back in a highly deceptive study implying that 55% of bankruptcies were caused by medical bills (a claim that was thoroughly debunked later), concerns me greatly. We already have plenty of politicians willing to distort the truth in pursuit of their agendas, and as I remember it, the distortions in that study were pretty extreme.

As for her personal financial advice, the tone of the book I looked at was so condescending I couldn’t get far enough into it to decide whether her advice made sense or not.

Wrong senate.

They are talking of having Warren run for the US Senate. If she is in the US Senate then that will not have any direct impact on Connecticut state taxes. CT state taxes are setup by CT state government.

Q10 Matthew : You have credit card debts and you’re buying company stock. I didn’t see an explanation why you’re investing in the stock market while in credit card debt. I hope that the company stock is bought at an attractive discount? If not then stop buying stock and pay off your credit card instead. If the stock is bought at a discount as an employee then you should be selling that stock as soon as you’re allowed and using the proceeds to pay off your debts. You may be getting a great deal on that stock purchase (10-15% discounts are common) so that may make sense to do while you’re in credit card debt. But accumulating and speculating on your own company stock is not a great idea. What if your company runs into financial problems? You could end up laid off and see your stock assets drop significantly at the same time. Thats a double wammy you want to avoid.