Andy

Do I Need Disability Insurance Policy To Protect My Income

Ask yourself this question. What is your most important and valuable asset? Think about it for a minute. Is it your house? Your savings or your 401(k) retirement plan? Your sports car or rare memorabilia? While all of these things are both important and valuable, none of them truly represent …

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Deficit Reduction Plan: Solve America’s Debt Problem By Cutting Taxes, Social Security, Medicare and Federal Retirement Benefits

To tackle America’s growing national debt problem, President Obama put together a task force earlier this year to look at options on how to cut government spending, implement tax reform and improve the effectiveness of federal entitlement programs. The deficit reduction commission co-chairs (Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson) put forward a $3.8 trillion deficit-cutting draft plan that calls for discretionary spending to be cut by $1.4 trillion over 10 years, while mandatory spending – including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – would be reduced by $733 billion. Taxes would be raised by $751 billion. More specifically:

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Simple Tips on Saving Money at Christmas

Christmas spending during the pandemic was relatively low in comparison with other years, but that’s all set to change this Christmas as Americans return to spending money. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), shoppers are ready to part with their cash this holiday season and have forecast record retail …

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401k, 403b, IRA Contribution and Income Limit Changes Officially Released by IRS

[Update] You can now see the most up-to-date 401K/403b, IRA and Roth IRA limits here

The IRS has released the latest 401k, 403b, IRA and other retirement/thrift plan contribution and income limits. With COLA remaining unchanged again this year, 2011 plan limits have also remained largely unchanged for the third year in a row. Income thresholds have marginally increased over last year.

Here is a summary of the main changes with links to more detailed articles:

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Gold: A Sound Investment or Overrated?

You’ve probably noticed by now that gold, and more specifically skyrocketing gold prices,  is just about the only thing people talk about these days. Buying gold has become the new trend in investing as the “gold-boom” continues. With the stock market looking as risky as ever, bonds at the mercy of impending inflation and savings interest rates still yielding at low levels, there has been an understandable flight to gold in the recent past.

Gold, as it always has been, is a natural hedge to currency – and more specifically the US dollar. It isn’t the only one, mind you, it’s just arguably the most popular one. Any precious metal, commodity and in some cases, even stocks will serve as an inflation hedge. As long as your asset isn’t directly tied to the dollar, you should be fine.

Yet, investors have been rushing to gold during every scare the economy has experienced, pushing prices into historic highs. According to Goldprice.org, an ounce of gold currently costs about $1,325. What does this mean? It means that if you’re thinking about investing in gold, you should be REALLY sure about why you’re doing it.

Golden Moments in U.S. History

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Five Ways to Make Sure You Get the Most Social Security Income at Retirement – And What You Can Do About It Now

It’s hard to believe that Social Security has been in existence for over 75 years. During that time, however, it has become an income staple for many Americans, with nine out of ten people over 65 receiving benefits. Although Social Security provides benefits for other than just retirement income, those over age 65 depend on Social Security for roughly 40 percent of their income. And, nearly 14 percent of Americans aged 65 and over depend on Social Security for 100 percent of their family income.

The average monthly Social Security check for a retired worker is $1,170. Yet, the need for Social Security benefits increases with age. And, with a trend towards longer life expectancies, it makes sense to try and maximize the benefits you will receive from the program. Particularly, if other retirement sources like 401K, IRAs and Real Estate are returning far less than expected.

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Social Security Tax Rate and Withholding – SSI Limits, Coverage, Retirement Earnings and Benefit Base Limit Changes

Updates – See here for the latest COLA increases by year____________ The Social Security Administration has officially released the Social Security and SSI information against the background announcement that there will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase next year. The zero COLA adjustment means the monthly Social Security and Supplemental …

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Understanding Your W2 Employer-Employee Tax Reporting Form

One of the most important tax forms you will receive during tax season is a W2. This is the official form that employers use to report employee wages/income, bonuses and other benefits received during the year; along with taxes (federal, state, medicare and social) that were withheld during the tax year. …

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15 Year Versus 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgages – How to Determine Which is the Better Option

As mortgage rates continue to hover at 30 year lows, many people are wondering whether a 15-year or a 30-year mortgage term is a better option. After all, even though payments on the 15-year option would be higher, the lower interest rates on the shorter term loan are keeping payments, in many cases, at very manageable levels.

With the average 15-year interest rate near 3.5 percent for those with good credit, versus around 4.5 percent for a 30-year mortgage, it’s hard not to at least consider the shorter term mortgage option. Further the higher payments, lower interest rate, and shorter repayment term of the 15-year mortgage option allows people to pay down their principal much faster, too.

Apparently quite a number of homeowners have jumped to 15-year mortgages lately. In fact, according to data from CoreLogic, for the first half of this year, over 25 percent of homeowners who refinanced went with a 15-year option. This is a drastic increase over past years, when only about 9.4 percent of home owners went that route.

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How to Make Money and Succeed as a Freelancer

Like gasoline for an automobile, data is fuel for the internet. Without data (content) the internet is a useless tool, just like a car that runs out of gas. The internet continues to grow and because of that, an increasing amount of content is needed to fuel it – and …

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