The medical expenses for the psychiatric care you will need for all of the stress is deductible. But only if they exceed 7.5% of your AGI. Too bad the liquor isn't. That might actually be the 7.5% by the time you're done.

I have a girlfriend who is a real estate agent. She told us that refinancing is basically a scam because there are so many fees involved. We were trying to decide whether to continue investing in mutual funds in this iffy market or pay off the mortgage, so we saw our financial advisor in January. He said that since the market is just as likely to go down as to go up, we would be safer paying off the mortgage, but if we buy mutual funds, we are buying at a low price, which is a good thing. So we are doing 50 -50, investing and paying down the mortgage. It feels SO good to be paying off the mortgage. Will be done in two years or less, and we brought the house in 1992. (Didn't start adding to the principal until two years ago.) I would not take cash out, nor would I refinance. The whole point is to pay off the mortgage, not make it last forever. Taking money out to invest might have made sense in the 90s when the market was booming, but not now. Everyone should manage their finances as if they might lose their job next month. I have NEVER made car payments, so I agree with landmarker, you should have been saving for a new/replacement car. If you don't have the ready cash to buy a new car, I agree that you should buy a used car. You obviously know enough about cars (Congratulations!) to be able to pick a good one. Buy a used car, pay it down as fast as you can, then go back to paying down your mortgage principal but also save for the next replacement car. You know what they say - the value of a new car drops as soon as you drive it off the lot.

Hi Mary, We still have 3 more years left on a 5-year ARM at 5.25 percent. Our friend (a financial planner) is urging us to refinance now, because rates are going up and he feels this long term of loose money is reaching the end. He warns that in 3 years we could be looking at 7 or 8 percent or even worse. I'm actually a little suspicious about the financial planner... he's not doing his math very well, it appears, in addition to not being very historically aware of how interest rates react in the markets over the long haul. Long term rates have bumped up a bit in the last week, but short term rates actually have significant downward economic pressures. The only reason the Fed hasn't dropped the Prime (yet) is because they were awaiting (with crossed fingers) for the long bonds (long term interest rates) to climb back into their higher relative band. Its true that nobody can guarantee exact predictions, however relative forecasts can be quite reliable. FURTHER, the savings you would continue to accumulate over the next 3 years in your existing fixed term at 5.25 is likely to surpass the costs of an earlier refinance, even considering a point bump in rate, if that was where you refinanced now. Our mortgage lender (it's a local company who keeps the loans) says we should wait (but of course it's in his interest -- no pun intended -- to have us sit for 3 years and be forced to refi at a higher rate, right?). The rate as of Friday was 6.25 with 1 point. Even if the local bank is holding the servicing (who you pay each month,) they LONG ago sold the underlying loan note to Wall Street for securitization. They would certainly stand to make MORE money if you refinanced today with them at the higher yield, rather than your suspicion that they'd be losing money. The loan officer's advice is actually NON-self-serving... sounds to me he/she's being sincere in proposing to your best interests. I hesitate to shop too much because I got blasted by a lender (whose daughter went to school with our son) because I didn't go with him after talking to him a long time when we bought this house; his bank didn't have the same package that another bank did -- but he said he would have met the price. (I thought, "if you think we're compatriates because of our kids, why didn't you give me the best deal in the first place?") Anyway, it made me hesitant to talk to lenders.... Instead of talking to retail lenders, I'd suggest you shop a good personal financial broker... someone who operates on a "transparent disclosure" basis (retail lenders can legally hide some, or even ALL of their revenues,) and who you can trust to shop & structure the best overall financing for you, matched to your long term family savings & investment goals, and including the equity forecast for your specific area. Also, realize that there is no "best deal in the first place." Financing isn't like a toaster oven where there is a pre-set, knowable solid price/rate. Different sources may have different "appetites" for certain niches of loans at any point in time. NON-SOLICITING EXAMPLE DISCLAIMER One of my firms affiliate Wall Street banks just sent us an email asking specifically for up to $2MM of additional Jumbo loans this month in order for their bank to complete a securitization issuance (a recycling of money into bonds for their banking clients to then buy.) For all the loans we can generate for this particular bank, they will "sweeten the pot" by 1% to our borrowers. That wasn't available this morning, and it's GONE when the additional $2M bucket is full. In addition, SOME of our bank affiliates will honor our "absolute best rate/fee guarantee" when our client commits to a binding exclusive representation agreement (which is not something we normally require... but which can work very nicely in our client's favor competitively sometimes!!!) THUS... while your fellow PTA member may be a little "too close to home" to choose as a personal financial advisor (not to mention that they are constrained to only the funding their own bank offers...) it can absolutely work to your advantage to carefully find a high quality mortgage broker who operates from a financial advisory perspective. Good luck as you proceed! Dave Donhoff Strategic Equity & Mortgage Planner

"I'd say it's well worth looking into, by asking someone who is a certified accountant (skip the employees of that highly advertised store front tax chain--they only get a few weeks course in tax prep, and the returns they prepare have a very high percentage of being audited)." Azzalea Please remember that not all CPAs are good tax preparers. There are many who are. Most CPAs donÂt actually prepare the returns themselves. They have a "back room" that does the tax prep. The CPA may review the return in detail or may not even look at it. What Azzalea says about the chain tax prep firms is a common misconception. There are tax preparers at those chains that have been doing taxes for over 10 or more years. I know several that have been doing tax returns for over 20 years with those big chains. IÂd like to know where azzalea got the information that leads azzalea to believe that the chains have a very high percentage of audits. I have never seen a statistic published by the IRS that shows this. The key to finding a tax person is to ask about their experience with returns similar to yours. Ask about the guarantee that your return is done correctly. Ask if they will go to an audit for no additional fee if you audited. Back to the original question, whether or not you have enough medical expenses depends on your situation, your income, your medical expenses and how many other itemized deductions you have.