How to make the most of your tax refund

When your tax return finally arrives, what should you do with the money?

Technically, that money has been yours all along, according to CBS business analyst and host of “Jill on Money” Jill Schlesinger. And she says that a bigger tax refund isn’t necessarily better.

Instead of treating the return as free money, Schlesinger says it’s better to invest in your future self.

“You essentially are getting your own money back after the government holding it for a year. And yet you got paid no interest for this,” Schlesinger says. “So I think of a refund as this lousy deal, essentially an interest-free loan to the government.”

Hafsa Quraishi produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Catherine Welch. Grace Griffin adapted it for the web.