Money Today That Matters Tomorrow
Many employers, and certainly the larger ones, use a prospective employee’s credit history as a pre-employment screening methodology to judge their character and credibility. The reasoning is that your inability to handle your financial commitments may be a sign of personal irresponsibility, which may spill over into the workplace. For …
Google plays a big part in my life and my blogging business. Apart from it’s Adsense publisher program which provides the bulk of this blog’s income, Google’s search engine provides the basis and background for a number of the topics that I write about. I am not alone with 70% …
Updated : See the latest year IRS tax brackets here. President Obama and Congress have approved a two year extension to all the Bush-era tax cuts. This means that the 2011 Federal IRS tax rates will be the same as 2010 rates, shown in the table below. However tax bracket …
Unfortunately it looks like the chances of a further extension to the home buyer tax credit are lessening by the day as stronger housing data and focus on reducing government debt and foreclosures emerges. Bloomberg reports that purchases of new homes in the U.S. surged 27% in March, the most …
In the current financial climate as the economy slows with rising inflation, many of us are under pressure to pay the bills, buy basic household items and meet our day-to-day expenses. Finding spare cash to pay off loans, save for your kids college expenses and to build up a decent …
Debt is a part of life, but when debts careen beyond control to a point where you can no longer repay, filing for personal bankruptcy is a way out. However, before you file for bankruptcy, there are important repercussions you should consider, especially facts related to your life insurance premiums. …
Most tax payers, including myself, share the same dread of getting audited by the IRS. But in reality the chances of facing an IRS audit aren’t all that high and continue to decline – funding cuts and better tax software are a big reason for this. The IRS today audits, …
You may have heard the terms good debt and bad debt before, but it is not as simple as labeling credit card debt as bad, and a home loan as good because a home loan can in fact be considered bad debt too. It is important to understand the differences …
[Update] The government is starting to mail out the tax free $250 medicare gap checks to seniors who fall into the program’s gap in prescription drug coverage. This so called Medicare “doughnut hole,” payment (detailed below) was part of the recently enacted Health care reform bill. If you have Medicare prescription …
[Updated with New IRS provisions] The IRS has released more details on tax-saving opportunities included in recently enacted HIRE act federal legislation (see details in previous update below). A variety of business tax deductions and credits were created, extended and expanded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 …
With the Supreme court decision upholding the passage of health care reform, the Obama administration received a major political boost. Americans will finally start seeing the actual impacts of many of these new laws. The main changes are discussed in the previous updates below, buthere are the key new rules …
[Updated April 2010] With a weakening housing market and impending expiration of the home buyer credit, the Obama administration and Treasury have stepped up efforts to help struggling home owners facing foreclosure, including subsidies for the unemployed and borrowers who owe more than their home is worth. The updated/revised plan …
Money doesn’t buy happiness? Tell that to Hollywood where money is business and box office receipts are what matter! In all seriousness, the old saying might be true, but it doesn’t stop most of us from trying. And, so here are the top ten movies about people trying to get rich, and in many …
Each year the IRS releases its discussion and rebuttal of many of the more common frivolous arguments made by individuals and groups that oppose compliance with federal tax laws. It’s called the Truth about Frivolous Tax Arguments and it makes interesting reading thanks to the inclusion of real life cases …