The deadline for filing a tax return is now a little less than a month away, and a new Bankrate survey has found that 51% of Americans will get some amount of federal refund this year. Here’s a closer look at what Americans plan on doing with their refund checks this year, what you should do with yours and why a big tax refund might not necessarily be a good thing for your finances.

More Americans Splurging

Thirty one percent of those receiving a refund this year plan to save or invest that money, down from 33% last year. The percentage of people that intend to use their refund to pay down debt also dropped from 34% last year to only 28% this year.

At the same time, the percentage of people that intend to splurge on vacations, shopping sprees or other indulgences has doubled from 3% to 6% this year.

Spending your tax refund is certainly good for the economy, but it’s only responsible if debt and living expenses are not an issue.

What To Do With Your Tax Refund

The IRS expects…

Click here to continue reading

Want to learn more about how to profit off the stock market? Or maybe you just want to be able to look sophisticated in front of your coworkers when they ask you what you are reading on your Kindle, and you’d prefer to tell them “Oh, I’m just reading a book about stock market analysis,” rather than the usual “Oh, I’m just looking at pics of my ex-girlfriend on Facebook.” For these reasons and more, check out my book, Beating Wall Street with Common Sense. I don’t have a degree in finance; I have a degree in neuroscience. You don’t have to predict what stocks will do if you can predict what traders will do and be one step ahead of them. I made a 400% return in the stock market over five years using only basic principles of psychology and common sense. Beating Wall Street with Common Sense is now available on Amazon, and tradingcommonsense.com is always available on your local internet!