 Q&A: When Will I Get My Economic Stimulus Money? Click to watch the video | |
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3.07.2008
When Will I Get My Economic Stimulus Money?
3.06.2008
Taxes: Other Opinions
Take a Look at the article from SmartMoney.com:
Should I Pay My Taxes With Plastic?
By Bill Bischoff
March 5, 2008
WORRIED ABOUT HOW you're going to pay your tax bill? It might be tempting to slap it on plastic. After all, you've probably heard you can charge taxes due on your 2007 federal income-tax return on your Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card or American Express. What if you want a filing extension? No problem. You can just charge what you expect to owe the IRS. And if you owe estimated taxes for tax-year 2008, you can charge those, too. In fact, in many states, credit-card payments are available for your state income-tax bill as well.
Clearly, charging your taxes is convenient. And with the right card, you can even rack up some extra frequent-flier miles or other goodies to boot. So what's wrong with this picture?
The "convenience fee," that's what. It amounts to a hefty 2.49% of the amount you charge. This is in lieu of the fee that merchants pay credit-card companies when you charge your purchases. Only in this case, the "merchant" is the Internal Revenue Service, and Uncle Sam isn't interested in turning 2.49% of his revenues over to the card companies, which means you have to pay it. Until now, you may have been blissfully ignorant of these merchant fees, but you will become painfully aware of their bite when they come directly out of your own hide. The money is collected by one of the two vendors that facilitate these transactions (Official Payments Corp. and Link2Gov Corp.), and split with the card issuers.
Granted, paying $9.96 for the convenience of charging a $400 tax bill to your credit card isn't really a sin. But what about paying $124.50 on a $5,000 tax bill? And in addition to that, your friendly credit-card company steps up and starts charging you interest (often at 13% or more annually), unless you pay off your bill within the grace period. Bottom line? You can probably find a better way to dig up the money to foot the bill.
Our suggestion? Try to find other (less expensive) ways to raise the cash needed to pay your taxes. Perhaps your credit union, your parents or your rich brother-in-law. Also, don't overlook the IRS itself. You may qualify to set up an installment payment plan with the government. If so, this may be the cheapest way to go. You'll be charged a $52 setup fee (assuming you arrange for automatic payments out of your checking account) and then a monthly interest rate on the outstanding balance. Currently, that interest rate is 0.833% per month (which equates to 10% annually). However, the interest rate is subject to change every quarter. File IRS Form 9465 to get that ball rolling.
Of course, if you have a credit card with a low APR — say 5% or less — this could turn out to be the cheaper option. That is, provided you really do pay off your tab in a reasonable amount of time (i.e., before that introductory rate jumps up to something much higher). If so, visit officialpayments.com or pay1040.com to process your payment.
SmartMoney.com
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Are You Ready?
A harsh reality of life is that a disaster can occur on your door-step at any time. Should it occur you want to have done some planning beforehand, that may soften the blow. One thing that will give you some piece of mind is to have your family's household insurance inventory current and safeguarded.
Take a peek at this video, from the Insurance Information Institute. The Institute site also allows a download of their inventory software - Know Your Stuff.
Even if you dont care to use this downloadable software, put it on your "to-do" list today, to get out your pencil and pad and create your inventory. After a disaster, you want to be able to present your information to the insurance company, so they can make you as whole as possible, as quickly as possible. Not having to worry about how you will replace even basic possessions, will start getting your life back to normal.
If you have had such an experience, tell us about it, and how you managed afterwards.
Take a peek at this video, from the Insurance Information Institute. The Institute site also allows a download of their inventory software - Know Your Stuff.
Even if you dont care to use this downloadable software, put it on your "to-do" list today, to get out your pencil and pad and create your inventory. After a disaster, you want to be able to present your information to the insurance company, so they can make you as whole as possible, as quickly as possible. Not having to worry about how you will replace even basic possessions, will start getting your life back to normal.
If you have had such an experience, tell us about it, and how you managed afterwards.
3.05.2008
Economic Stimulus Notice - 2008
This is a copy of the Economic Stimulus Notice, from the IRS website, that you will be receiving in your mailbox this month. Click the title above.
Remember that in order to be eligible to receive the stimulus, you must file a 2007 tax return.
Remember that in order to be eligible to receive the stimulus, you must file a 2007 tax return.
3.04.2008
Consider Using a Financial Tool
Many of the people I work with tell me that they just cant get all their financial affairs straight. They never seem to be on top of everything. As a result, folks often side-step the financial management task and operate on a "wing and a prayer." That can sometimes lead to late fees, non-sufficient funds fees, over-limit fees, lost airline miles, increased credit card interest rates, lower credit scores, and on and on.
Sure if you aren't a numbers person, or a detail person, there is a certain amount of tedium present in not only keeping all your accounts current (or at least paid), but also being able to have accurate information as an input into your financial planning. If you are a ledger and pencil person, go right ahead, an EXCEL spreadsheet user - that's a good tool too. As long as the job is being done, congratulations are in order. I prefer to let my financial management software do the "heavy lifting" for me.
Using a financial tool makes almost every aspect of your financial management less of a tedious task. It is a very effective way to keep all your information in one system. One such product is Quicken - brought to you by Intuit.
It enables you to:
-Reconcile your accounts (bank, brokerage, credit cards etc.)
-Generate your net worth (Quicken keeps a running tabulation of your net worth on it’s initial screen)
-Generate saving’s goals and targets and track their progress
-Track your savings
-Track your spending - It'll give you a synopsis of your inflow and outflow, and any expected shortages and when they are scheduled to occur during the month.
-Create a budget and be alerted when you exceed it
-Track your credit accounts
-Develop a debt management plan – informs the most expedient way to reduce your debt
-Track your investments
-Create a watch list of investments
-Transfer financial data into tax preparation software
-Generate multiple customized reports at the click of a button.
Take a look at the Quicken site, (click here) where you can compare the product’s features, and make a determination of which product is best for you.
Sure if you aren't a numbers person, or a detail person, there is a certain amount of tedium present in not only keeping all your accounts current (or at least paid), but also being able to have accurate information as an input into your financial planning. If you are a ledger and pencil person, go right ahead, an EXCEL spreadsheet user - that's a good tool too. As long as the job is being done, congratulations are in order. I prefer to let my financial management software do the "heavy lifting" for me.
Using a financial tool makes almost every aspect of your financial management less of a tedious task. It is a very effective way to keep all your information in one system. One such product is Quicken - brought to you by Intuit.
It enables you to:
-Reconcile your accounts (bank, brokerage, credit cards etc.)
-Generate your net worth (Quicken keeps a running tabulation of your net worth on it’s initial screen)
-Generate saving’s goals and targets and track their progress
-Track your savings
-Track your spending - It'll give you a synopsis of your inflow and outflow, and any expected shortages and when they are scheduled to occur during the month.
-Create a budget and be alerted when you exceed it
-Track your credit accounts
-Develop a debt management plan – informs the most expedient way to reduce your debt
-Track your investments
-Create a watch list of investments
-Transfer financial data into tax preparation software
-Generate multiple customized reports at the click of a button.
Take a look at the Quicken site, (click here) where you can compare the product’s features, and make a determination of which product is best for you.
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