Leaderboard

I don't even mention the form to anybody. I think one or two have asked over the years and I just offered to give them the blank and let them fill it in & mail it themselves. Nobody ever took me up on that. I'm just not interested in getting involved in their personal bookkeeping. Guess I'm not very understanding about people's need to grow up & take some responsibilty for their finances. I appreciate what others have said, but I still don't like it and am not going to do anything to encourage people to use it. The small benefit derived by a few isn't worth the larger issue of the potential for abuse or error. Too bad the iRS had to waste man-hours and some of our taxpayer funds figuring that out - I'd have gladly told them for free.

I charge by the form, so yes it does cost them to use this method. But, it's usually cheaper then the fee their banks charge them to wire funds to their IRA at the last minute. And, it's always less stress than trusting a soon-to-be-ex to write a check. I don't push it on them, but if they ask me if it's possible, I explain it to them and let them choose what they want to do.

I have a couple of clients who fund their IRAs with their refunds, part of their refund going to that brokerage account and part going into their checking or savings account. I've had couples that are divorcing but decided to file MFJ that send their refunds to their separate bank accounts. I'm not fond of this form, as I have to read up on it everytime someone wants to use it due to the ordering rules if a refund is less (or even more) than expected. But it is the client's choice to use if it meets his needs.