Has anyone else noticed that sometimes the total interest reported on the 1098s doesn't match what you actually paid according to your payment history? My mortgage was sold in August and the sum of both 1098s was about $340 less than what my payment records show for interest.

Great question! I dealt with this exact situation last year when my mortgage was sold in July. You definitely need to add both 1098 forms together - each lender reports the interest they collected during their respective periods of servicing your loan. One thing to watch out for: make sure there's no overlap in the dates. Sometimes there can be a few days where both lenders might report interest, especially around the transfer date. If the numbers seem unusually high when added together, double-check your monthly statements to verify the totals. Also, keep both 1098 forms with your tax records. The IRS receives copies of both forms, so they'll expect to see the combined total reflected in your return. TurboTax should handle this smoothly when you enter both forms separately - it will automatically combine the mortgage interest amounts for your Schedule A.

5 Has anyone addressed whether this could be an intentional income-shifting strategy by the mom? I've seen small business owners do this to reduce their own tax liability by "paying" family members. The IRS is aware of this practice and does scrutinize family business arrangements. If the child isn't actually performing meaningful work worth $6,300, or if they're not being paid market rates for the work, this could be problematic in an audit.

You're absolutely right to be concerned about this situation. As several others have mentioned, the $400 threshold for self-employment income is key here - your daughter definitely needs to file. However, I'd strongly recommend getting professional help before proceeding. The classification of a 12-year-old as an independent contractor is highly questionable and could trigger an audit. The IRS looks closely at family business arrangements, especially when children are involved. A few red flags I see: 1) A 12-year-old typically can't meet the "independence" test for contractor status, 2) The amount seems high for basic filing/sorting work by a child, and 3) This could be viewed as income shifting to avoid taxes. I'd suggest consulting with a tax professional who can review whether this should have been handled differently (like employee wages with FICA exemptions for children in family businesses) and help you navigate the filing requirements properly. The goal should be compliance, not just getting through this year's filing.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! My DDD was today (Feb 26) and I've been obsessively checking my bank account every few hours. It's so frustrating when you're counting on that money and the IRS says it's "sent" but your account is still empty. Reading through all these comments is actually really reassuring though - sounds like 1-3 day delays are totally normal even when everything is processed correctly. I'm going to try to stop checking my account every 5 minutes and just wait until Friday before I start panicking. Thanks for posting this - nice to know I'm not alone in the waiting game!

I'm going through this exact same situation! My DDD was February 26th (today) and I've been refreshing my bank app constantly with no luck. It's so stressful when you're counting on that money for expenses. Reading through everyone's responses here is really helping me feel less anxious about it though. Sounds like 1-3 day delays are super common even when the IRS shows everything as processed correctly. The explanation about how the IRS just initiates the transfer on the DDD but banks take additional time to actually process it makes total sense. I'm going to try to stop obsessing over my account balance and just wait until Friday before I start worrying. Thanks for posting this - it's comforting to know so many others are dealing with the same waiting game!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm 28 and just started a new job that offers both traditional and Roth 401k options. Reading through all these responses really clarified the $23,500 combined limit for 2025 - I was definitely overthinking it and thought each account type had its own separate limit. One thing I'm still wondering about: if I expect to be in a higher tax bracket in retirement (hoping my career continues to grow), would it make more sense to prioritize Roth 401k contributions over traditional? Or should I hedge my bets and split between both types? Also, the HSA information from Sofia was incredibly valuable - I didn't realize it could function as a retirement account after 65. My employer offers an HSA with their high-deductible plan, so I'm definitely going to look into maximizing that alongside my 401k contributions. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and knowledge!

This is exactly the kind of comprehensive breakdown I was looking for when I started getting serious about retirement planning! One thing I'd add that might be helpful for folks trying to optimize their strategy is to consider the timing of when you make your contributions throughout the year. If you're planning to max out your 401k ($23,500 for 2025), try to spread it evenly across all pay periods rather than front-loading it early in the year. This ensures you don't miss out on any employer matching contributions - some employers only match on a per-paycheck basis, so if you max out your 401k contributions by June, you could potentially miss out on employer matching for the rest of the year. For IRAs, you actually have until the tax filing deadline (usually April 15th) to make contributions for the previous tax year. This gives you extra time to see what your final income will be and determine if you're eligible for Roth IRA contributions or if you need to do a backdoor Roth conversion. Also worth noting that if you change jobs during the year, you can potentially contribute to multiple employer 401k plans as long as your total employee contributions don't exceed the annual limit ($23,500 for 2025). The IRS tracks this by individual, not by employer plan. Great thread - bookmarking this for future reference!

I've been through this exact same situation! My ID.me account got suspended about 2 months ago right when I needed to check on my refund status. After reading through all these comments, I wish I had known about some of these workarounds earlier. What finally worked for me was the chat support on help.id.me - took about 30 minutes to get through but they were actually helpful once connected. Turns out my account was flagged because I had logged in from my work computer which had a different IP address than usual. They made me re-verify with new photos (make sure the lighting is perfect!) and answer some security questions. Got it resolved in about 48 hours. While waiting, I also called that IRS transcript line at 800-908-9946 around 7 AM and actually got through to request a backup copy by mail. Definitely try multiple approaches since you never know which one will work faster. The whole system is frustrating but hang in there - almost everyone eventually gets their account restored with enough persistence!

I feel your pain! This exact same thing happened to me about 6 months ago - logged in fine for months then suddenly got hit with the suspension message out of nowhere. What worked for me was going straight to the chat support on help.id.me instead of trying to call (way faster). Turns out they had flagged my account because I'd been using a VPN while working from home, which their system saw as "suspicious activity from multiple locations." Had to go through the whole verification dance again - new photos of my ID, selfie, security questions, the works. Pro tip: make sure your lighting is absolutely perfect when taking those verification photos - they're super picky and will reject blurry or shadowy images. Got my account back in about 3 days. While you're dealing with the ID.me mess, you can also try calling the IRS transcript line at 800-908-9946 first thing in the morning (like 7 AM) to request a mailed copy as backup. Takes about 10 days but at least you'll have access to your info. Hang in there - the system is definitely broken but most people do get their accounts restored with enough persistence!