Blogging Away Debt

CPA versus Certified Tax Preparer…Is It Worth It?

It’s that lovely time of year when we all get to do our taxes. *cue collective groan*

Tax withholding form and pen on a table beside a dark coffee mug

We ended up having a small tax debt this year for our federal taxes, but ended up with a refund on the state side, which helped to even things out in the end. Going through all our files (physical and electronic) is such a pain and we have a lot of different investments and tax credits through the state of Arizona, and it can be tough to keep track of everything! So it makes me wonder…is a CPA worth it?

My prior experience with a CPA

When I was married to my now ex-husband, there was one year that we really messed up our taxes and ended up owning a LOT of money (like….nearly $20,000). The following year, I hired a CPA and we used him for a couple of years until I went through my divorce. The CPA had been fine, but I didn’t feel like I was getting much out of the fee I was paying him. The biggest benefit is that he had a tax organizer that told me all the forms I needed to find/organize so I didn’t leave anything out. But I didn’t feel like he gave us any real advice in terms of minimizing tax obligations and his service cost $450/year.

While it was lovely not to have to do any of the work ourselves, I couldn’t really justify the cost. Once I went through my divorce, a lot of my tax situation simplified. My ex had been a small business owner, so there was a lot of extra “stuff” in relation to that. I didn’t have to worry about that on my own, and did my own taxes for a few years.

Current experience with certified tax preparer

My now-husband and I have been handling our taxes ourselves since we wed in 2020. This year, however, we were both overworked and out-of-time to do it on our own. We ended up hiring a certified tax preparer to get all our documents together and submit everything for us. He was cheaper than the CPA ($275 total), but I still wonder….is it worth it?

CPA vs Tax Preparer

If you’re in the market to hire someone to help with taxes, it’s good to know what you’re getting for your money. A CPA is generally more expensive, but they have more expansive training and testing on all types of accounting and financial information, including (and beyond) tax preparation. The certified tax preparer we used this year still passed a test and is certified to be able to prepare taxes. But he doesn’t know all the ins-and-outs of everything a CPA would know. In our initial meeting, I asked what the current income limit is in order to have a Roth IRA. He didn’t know. It was easy for me to look up on my own, but it just feels like something a CPA would surely know straight from memory.

What are your thoughts?

We did, in fact, use a tax preparer this year. But I don’t know what we’ll do in the future. I feel like we’re at a point in our financial lives that a CPA’s advice could be beneficial for financial planning purposes. But I don’t want to spend an arm-and-a-leg and feel like I’m not getting much out of it, either.

Maybe last time my CPA was just a “dud” and I need to interview around or get better recommendations and referrals. To be clear, he did what he was supposed to (he prepared and filed our taxes, after all). But it just didn’t feel like anything over and above what our tax preparer is doing. Can spending more money on a CPA result in a net savings in terms of smart investments and legal ways to minimize tax burden? When do you know if it’s a smart choice for you?

My Medical Costs May Be Lower Than Expected

by Vicky Monroe

I wasn’t expecting good news when it came to my medical costs because I’m a bit of a pessimist. However, I’ve gotten good estimates back from my oral surgeon and the psychologist who’s going to do my ADHD testing.

I was expecting wisdom tooth surgery to cost $4,000, the same as what my spouse paid a few years ago. However, the oral surgeon I met with this week said it would cost $2,000 even with anesthesia. And that’s before potential insurance reimbursement. I forgot my dental insurance information when I rushed out the door for the appointment. However, I’m going to call the surgeon’s next week to give them the details they need to estimate my out-of-pocket costs for the surgery.

Wisdom Tooth Surgery May Not Be Necessary

However, it’s possible that the surgery may not be necessary, so I’d love to get your opinions on this. The oral surgeon was very honest and gave me a range of treatment options I could pursue. He said that my wisdom teeth are in good enough shape to keep because they’re not impacted and I’m doing a good job keeping them clean.

The main downside of keeping them is that they’ll be much harder to remove in the future. Apparently bones in our mouth tend to get harder as we age, which makes extractions more challenging. My wisdom teeth are so far back in my mouth that filling them would be difficult if I ever got a cavity. The surgeon said that most dental offices do not fill cavities in wisdom teeth and would advise me to get them extracted instead.

After talking to my parents, I found out that both of them have been able to keep their wisdom teeth, so genetics may be on my side. However, I think I’m still leaning toward doing the surgery to prevent a more complicated, painful surgery when I’m older. I’d love to hear what you think. Have any of you kept your wisdom teeth? How have things turned out for you?

Invisalign May Not Be Medically Necessary Either

I also asked the oral surgeon about Invisalign so I could get a second opinion. I have one tooth in the bottom of my mouth that sticks out because there isn’t enough space for it. Unfortunately, that tooth broke in half because it protrudes and rubs up against my two front teeth.

Although I could get Invisalign to fix this crowding issue (which my dentist said would cost $4K to $5K), I could just get that problem tooth extracted instead. I would have an empty space in the bottom row of my teeth, but it would be a low-cost solution. I wondered if a lot of food would get stuck in the gap, but the surgeon said I should have no problem keeping it clear since it’s so close to my tongue. I’m planning to play around in Photoshop and see how I might look with this small tooth missing.

If I decide to get the tooth extracted and end up hating the results, the surgeon said I could get Invisalign after the fact to push the remaining teeth together. Doing things this way (tooth extraction then Invisalign) would enable me to keep my wisdom teeth if I wanted to. Otherwise, I’d have to get my wisdom teeth out to make enough room in my mouth for the bottom tooth that’s protruding, then proceed with the Invisalign.

I’m curious to hear what you all would do. Would you:

Do the wisdom tooth surgery, then proceed with Invisalign.
Keep the wisdom teeth, get the protruding bottom tooth removed, and then get Invisalign if I decide I can’t live with the gap. This is probably the cheapest option.

ADHD Testing Costs

I wasn’t having much luck finding a provider who could test me for ADHD, so I decided to ask my primary care physician for a referral. The psychologist she suggested does take my insurance, and it turns out the testing will be pretty cheap. The psychologist’s office consulted my insurance company, and it turns out I should only owe a $35 copay. I decided to go ahead and book the appointment for the beginning of June and am looking forward to getting some answers.

Hopefully once I decide what to do with my teeth, these medical issues will stop taking up so much of my brain space so I can think and write about other things! In the meantime, thanks for listening and leaving lots of helpful comments that have aided my decision-making process.

Medical Bills Rolling In

More Medical Costs and Mortgage Update

Confession: We’ve Taken On A Little More Debt