This thread has been absolutely incredible - so much detailed and practical advice! As someone who's been lurking in this community for a while but just starting to get serious about retirement planning, I wanted to add one perspective that might be helpful. I'm in a similar situation to @Serene Snow (early 30s, government employee, just figuring out retirement accounts), and what really helped me was thinking about it in terms of "hedging my bets" rather than trying to find the single "perfect" strategy. The 457(b) is great if tax rates go down or stay the same by retirement. The Roth IRA is great if tax rates go up or if I end up in a higher bracket than expected. Since none of us have a crystal ball, having both covers more scenarios. One thing I'd add that I learned from my own research: don't underestimate the value of simplicity when you're starting out. It's better to pick a reasonable strategy and stick with it for years than to constantly second-guess yourself and make frequent changes. The consistency of saving regularly matters way more than optimizing every single detail. @Serene Snow - after all this amazing advice, I'd love to hear what you're leaning toward! Have you been able to check with your HR about employer matching? Even if there isn't any, the "do both" approach seems to have strong support here, and starting with whatever amount feels sustainable is the key. You're asking all the right questions at exactly the right age!

As someone who's been working in government HR for over a decade, I wanted to add a few practical points that might help with your decision: First, definitely check with your county's benefits office about employer matching - while it's less common with 457(b) plans, some local governments do offer it, especially if they're trying to compete for talent. Even a small match like 25-50 cents per dollar up to 3% would be significant free money. Second, I'd recommend looking at your county's pension plan too. If you have a decent pension coming (which many county employees do), that changes the retirement savings equation. You might not need as much from your personal retirement accounts, which could tip the balance toward the Roth IRA for tax diversification and flexibility. One thing that hasn't been mentioned - many government 457(b) plans have limited investment options and higher fees compared to what you can get with a Roth IRA at a place like Vanguard or Fidelity. Check your plan's expense ratios - if they're above 0.5-1%, that could eat into your returns significantly over 30+ years. My suggestion: Keep contributing to the 457(b) at least until you confirm there's no match, then seriously consider splitting future increases between maxing your 457(b) and opening a Roth IRA. At 32, even $200/month to a Roth could grow to over $500,000 by retirement if invested in low-cost index funds. The tax diversification alone makes this strategy worth considering!

The IRS has a "Safe Harbor" provision (Section 530) that some small religious schools try to use as a loophole, but it doesn't apply in situations like yours. They have to meet very specific requirements including consistent treatment of all similar workers and a "reasonable basis" for classification. With you working set hours, teaching assigned curriculum, and using their facilities, there's no reasonable basis for contractor status. The school is definitely in the wrong here. If they don't fix this after you bring it up, file Form 8919 "Uncollected Social Security and Medicare Tax on Wages" with your tax return to pay only your half of these taxes instead of the full self-employment tax. Check code G in box 9: "I received a Form 1099 but I am a statutory employee.

I'm dealing with something very similar at my tutoring center! They've been giving me 1099s even though I work set hours, use their curriculum, and teach in their facility. After reading through all these responses, I'm definitely going to try the taxr.ai suggestion first to get documentation, then have a conversation with my employer. The Form 8919 option is really helpful to know about - I had no idea you could pay just the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes when you're misclassified. At $21k salary, that self-employment tax difference is probably costing you around $1,600 extra per year, which is huge when you're already struggling financially. One thing I'd add - document everything about your work relationship (your schedule, any employee handbook, emails about duties, etc.) before you approach the school. Having that paper trail will be crucial whether you end up filing IRS forms or just need to convince your administration to fix the classification. Good luck with this! It's frustrating that schools think they can get away with this just because teachers are often desperate for work and don't know their rights.

Just to add another perspective on timing - if you're still working at age 73+ and participating in your current employer's 401(k), you might be able to delay RMDs from that specific 401(k) until you actually retire (assuming you don't own 5% or more of the company). This is called the "still working exception." However, this only applies to your current employer's plan - you'd still need to take RMDs from IRAs and previous employers' 401(k)s. If you have old 401(k)s sitting around, you might want to consider rolling them into IRAs for easier management, but be aware this would subject them to the normal RMD rules without the still-working exception. This won't help with your 2024 RMD situation since that's from an IRA, but it's something to keep in mind for future planning if you're still employed.

One important detail to clarify about the tax year reporting - while your March 2025 withdrawal will be reported on your 2025 tax return, make sure you understand how this affects your quarterly estimated tax payments if you make them. Since you'll have potentially two RMDs worth of income in 2025 (your delayed 2024 RMD plus your regular 2025 RMD), you may need to adjust your estimated payments to avoid underpayment penalties. The IRS expects you to pay taxes throughout the year, not just when you file your return. If you decide to take your 2024 RMD in December 2024 instead, you could spread this tax burden more evenly and potentially avoid having to make large estimated tax payments in 2025. Just something to factor into your planning beyond just which tax return the income appears on.

Great to see so many detailed responses here! As another international student who dealt with this exact situation, I can confirm that Schedule D is definitely the correct choice for your Robinhood stock trades. The key principle everyone's touched on - "effectively connected income" - is crucial to understand. Since you're physically present in the US on F1 status when making these trades through a US broker, your capital gains are considered connected to your US presence and should be reported on Schedule D, not Schedule NEC. One thing I'd add that might be helpful: when you're filling out Schedule D, pay close attention to the holding period for each stock. Any positions held for exactly one year or less go in Part I (short-term), while positions held for more than one year go in Part II (long-term). The tax treatment is significantly different - short-term gains are taxed at ordinary income rates, while long-term gains qualify for the preferential capital gains rates (0%, 15%, or 20%). For your $3,200 in gains, if most were long-term, you could be looking at a 15% federal rate instead of your ordinary income rate, which could save you several hundred dollars. Regarding the missing 1099-B from Robinhood - definitely check your account online under tax documents. Many brokers have moved to electronic-only delivery. Even if you can't find it, you're still required to report all transactions using your trading records from the app. The HR Block advisor's suggestion of Schedule NEC was definitely incorrect and could have caused significant filing errors. It's unfortunately common for general tax preparers to not understand the specific rules that apply to international students with investment income.

Diego, I'm really glad you questioned that HR Block advisor's recommendation - Schedule NEC would have been completely wrong for your situation! As everyone here has correctly explained, your Robinhood stock trades should absolutely be reported on Schedule D. I went through this exact same situation as an F1 student from Mexico, and the confusion around which form to use is surprisingly common. The key concept that finally made it click for me was understanding "effectively connected income" (ECI). Since you're physically present in the US on F1 status when making these trades through a US broker, your capital gains are considered connected to your US presence. Think of it this way: Schedule NEC is for passive income that would exist regardless of where you are - like if you owned rental property back in India. But actively trading stocks while you're living and studying in the US creates effectively connected income that gets the same tax treatment as a US resident would receive. This is actually good news for you! Your capital gains will be taxed at graduated rates instead of the harsh 30% flat rate. Short-term gains (held less than a year) are taxed at your ordinary income rate, while long-term gains qualify for the preferential capital gains rates of 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your income level. Since you mentioned $3,200 in gains, if most of those were long-term, you're probably looking at the 15% rate, which could save you hundreds compared to ordinary income taxation. Don't stress about the missing 1099-B - check your Robinhood account online under tax documents. Most brokers only provide electronic copies now. Even without it, you must report all transactions using your trading history from the app.

As a newcomer to this community, this is exactly the kind of honest, insider perspective I was hoping to find! Your breakdown of who should and shouldn't use TurboTax Live Full Service is incredibly helpful and refreshingly balanced. I'm particularly impressed by your point about not recommending the service for super basic returns - it shows real integrity to acknowledge when a cheaper DIY option is actually the better choice rather than just trying to upsell everyone. That kind of honest assessment makes me trust your other recommendations more. I'm in that middle complexity zone you described - W-2 income plus some freelance consulting work and a small investment portfolio. Last year I spent an entire weekend trying to figure out quarterly estimated payments and business deductions, and I'm still not confident I got everything right. The peace of mind of having a credentialed professional handle it while I learn the ropes sounds worth the investment. Your point about the ethical standards is really reassuring too. Knowing that there are actual tax professionals with professional licenses on the line reviewing returns, rather than just automated software, makes a huge difference in my confidence level. The timing advice about submitting by late February to avoid peak season delays is particularly valuable - I tend to procrastinate on taxes, so having that specific deadline helps with planning. Thanks for sharing your real-world experience from inside the system!

As a newcomer to this community, I really appreciate this detailed and honest perspective from someone who actually worked inside TurboTax Live Full Service! Your breakdown is incredibly helpful for understanding who this service is really designed for. I'm in that middle complexity situation you described - I have W-2 income from my regular job plus some side consulting work that's grown significantly over the past year, along with a few investment accounts that always leave me second-guessing myself during tax season. Last year I spent countless hours trying to figure out business expense categories and quarterly estimated payments, and I'm still not confident I got everything right. Your point about the ethical standards and professional credentials is really reassuring. It's good to know there are actual credentialed tax professionals with real accountability reviewing these returns, rather than just automated software handling everything. The fact that you can decline questionable returns and have management support for maintaining professional standards gives me confidence in the service's integrity. The one-week timeline sounds reasonable for planning purposes, though I'll definitely take your advice about submitting by late February to avoid peak season delays. I tend to procrastinate on taxes, so having that specific deadline is helpful for my planning. One question - for someone like me who's relatively new to having business income, would you recommend using Full Service for the first year or two as a learning opportunity? I'm hoping to better understand how everything works so I can potentially handle it myself in the future, but I want to make sure I'm compliant and maximizing legitimate deductions while I'm still learning the ropes. Thanks for sharing your honest experience from inside the system - this kind of real-world insight from someone who actually worked as a Live expert is exactly what people need to make informed decisions about their tax preparation!