I Accidentally Discovered That My Mother-in-Law Made a $30,000 Mistake. I’m Not Sure I Should Tell Her.
The writer accidentally discovered that their mother-in-law incurred a $31,000 capital loss in 2022 by withdrawing nearly $300,000 from diversified investments at the market's lowest point and moving it to treasury bonds, likely due to market fears. The loss has been carried forward on her taxes, but since she has no taxable income, only $3,000 of the loss can be used annually, leaving about $17,000 remaining. The writer is unsure whether to inform her, given her anxiety about money and the limited benefit of the loss, and seeks advice on whether any recovery is possible.
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Pay Dirt I Accidentally Discovered That My Mother-in-Law Made a $30,000 Mistake. I’m Not Sure If I Should Tell Her. Advice by Kristin Wong April 29, 20261:01 PM Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by dszc/Getty Images Plus. Copy Link Share Share Comment Copy Link Share Share Comment Pay Dirt is Slate’s money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here. (It’s anonymous!) Dear Pay Dirt, My mother-in-law recently asked if I could help her with taxes. Since I didn’t have my laptop on me at the time, she just handed me the entire packet of paperwork, and I took it home. During the process, I noticed a five-figure short-term capital gains loss carried over from the previous year.
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