Has anyone had issues with the 1099-INT not being accurate? Last year my credit union reported about $75 more in interest than I actually earned according to my statements. Took forever to get it corrected and I'm worried about dealing with that again.

One thing to keep in mind with your $125k earning 1.65% APY - you'll want to track when the interest gets credited throughout the year, not just the total at year-end. Banks typically compound and credit interest monthly, so you'll be taxed on interest as it's earned even if you don't touch the principal. Also, since you're in the 32% bracket, consider whether it makes sense to maximize your 401(k) contributions first if you haven't already. That $22,500 (or $30,000 if you're over 50) in pre-tax contributions could save you more in taxes than you'd earn in interest, especially after factoring in the tax hit on the money market earnings. The math works out to roughly $7,200 in tax savings from maxing out your 401(k) vs. about $2,062 in gross interest (minus ~$660 in taxes) from the money market. Just something to consider in your overall financial planning!

Looking at the IRS Operations Dashboard (https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-operations), they're currently processing a higher volume of manual reviews than normal for this time of year. The 570/971 combination specifically indicates a refund hold pending review completion rather than an audit. If you check your transcript again in 7-10 days, you might see a Transaction Code 776 (which means they've sent a letter requesting information) or a 420 (which indicates examination/audit). The specific code will tell you much more about your situation than the general 120-day timeline.

I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - got the 570/971 codes last week and the waiting is really stressful when you have financial obligations. One thing that helped me was calling the Taxpayer Advocate Service at 877-777-4778. They can sometimes expedite reviews if you can demonstrate financial hardship, especially for medical expenses. Since you're caring for an elderly parent, that might qualify as hardship. Also, make sure to check your online account daily rather than weekly - I've seen people miss important updates because they weren't checking frequently enough. The IRS sometimes releases refunds earlier than their quoted timeframes if you stay on top of any requests for additional documentation.

Has anyone dealt with taking that first year RMD with a successor beneficiary situation? I missed mine and got hit with the penalty - it dropped from 50% to 25% with the SECURE 2.0 Act, but that's still brutal! Make sure you don't miss the deadline.

Just wanted to add one more thing that might help - when you're working with Vanguard on this, make sure they understand the timeline of deaths. Since your mom passed away in February 2024 and hadn't taken her 2024 RMD yet, you're responsible for taking both her missed 2024 RMD AND your 2024 successor beneficiary RMD. Your mom's missed RMD would be calculated using her remaining life expectancy factor (which would be 14.1 for age 86), and then your successor beneficiary RMD uses the same factor. Some institutions get confused about this "double RMD" situation in the year the second beneficiary dies. Also, since you mentioned you're 45, you might want to consider the timing of when you take distributions over the next 10 years from a tax planning perspective. You have flexibility now that you're not locked into annual RMDs - you could potentially time larger distributions for lower income years to minimize the tax impact.

Don't forget to check what your 401k money is actually invested in! I was contributing to get my employer match for years before I realized my money was sitting in a default money market fund making almost nothing. When you increase your contribution, make sure you're invested in something appropriate for your age. At 29, you probably want to be mostly in stock funds for long-term growth. Most 401k plans have target date funds that automatically adjust your investments as you get closer to retirement age.

Great question! You're already doing the smart thing by getting that full 5% match - that's literally free money. At 29, you have time on your side which is huge for compound growth. Given your situation, I'd suggest gradually increasing your 401k contribution to around 10-12% of your salary if you can swing it. With a $62k income, that extra 5-7% would be about $3,100-$4,340 more per year, but remember it reduces your taxable income so your take-home won't drop by the full amount. The key is finding balance - your 4.2% student loan rate isn't terrible, so it's not an emergency to pay it off early. I'd prioritize the 401k increase first since you're in the 22% tax bracket and getting that deduction now makes sense. Plus, starting a Roth IRA for your house fund (as others mentioned) gives you flexibility since you can access contributions penalty-free. Don't try to do everything at once though. Maybe bump your 401k to 8% first, see how it feels budget-wise, then consider adding a small Roth IRA contribution later. The most important thing is consistency - even small increases in your contributions now will make a massive difference over the next 35+ years until retirement.

Your situation is exactly why I always recommend getting a second opinion on complex retirement plan setups. The controlled group rules are incredibly strict, and I've seen too many business owners get burned by setting up non-compliant plans. From what you've described, your CPA's advice about a Self-Directed 401K at just the S-Corp level is almost certainly incorrect. The IRS doesn't care about the technical legal separation between your LLC and S-Corp - they look at the economic reality of common ownership and control. Since you own both entities and there's a clear business relationship (guaranteed payments flowing between them), they're going to be treated as a single employer for retirement plan purposes. This means any qualified retirement plan would need to include all eligible employees across both the LLC and S-Corp. You can't cherry-pick which employees to include just because they're paid by different entities. I'd strongly recommend getting this sorted out before moving forward. The penalties for maintaining a non-compliant qualified retirement plan can be severe, including plan disqualification and immediate taxation of all contributions. Better to get it right from the start than try to fix it later.

I went through almost the exact same situation last year with my LLC/S-Corp structure and employees split between entities. Your gut feeling is absolutely correct - the Self-Directed 401K at just the S-Corp level won't work due to controlled group rules. What I ended up doing was setting up a Safe Harbor 401K that covers all employees across both entities. Yes, it means I have to make contributions for my LLC employees too, but the tax benefits and compliance certainty were worth it. The Safe Harbor provisions also eliminated most of the annual testing requirements that can be problematic with these complex structures. I worked with a TPA who specialized in controlled group situations, and they were able to design the plan so that my personal contribution capacity was still maximized within the legal requirements. It's not as flexible as a Self-Directed Solo 401K, but it's completely compliant and gives me peace of mind. The key lesson I learned: when you have common ownership between entities, the IRS treats them as one employer for benefit plan purposes, period. There's really no way around it, despite what some CPAs might suggest. Better to set up a compliant plan from the start than deal with the nightmare of fixing a non-compliant one later.