Ellen’s tax client is employed at a large company that offers medical flexible spending accounts to its employees. Tom must decide at the beginning of the year whether he wants to put as much as $2,550 of his salary into the medical spending account. He expects that he will have to pay for at least $8,000 of medical expenses for his family during the year since his wife is seeing a psychiatrist every week and his daughter and son are both having their teeth straightened. Tom does not itemize deductions. Should Ellen recommend that Tom put the maximum in his medical flexible spending account, and if so, why?

Karen is a wealthy retired investment advisor who is in the 35 percent tax bracket. She has a choice between investing in a high-quality municipal bond paying 5 percent or a high-quality corporate bond paying 7 percent. Which investment do you think she will make and why?