In the nineties I was involved with a number of companies that brought Russian technology to the United States to develop businesses. At one point I asked one of the Russian gentlemen what he thought of our country. He said he was particularly taken by our privileged class. When I asked him to clarify the statement, he said, “You know, your teenagers.” He went on to explain how they drive the cars, buy the clothes and the electronic equipment, and they do it all at little to no cost to themselves. However, they are not the only group that has favor in this nation. There are other groups with favor based on age, health, income, net worth, and occupation.
Posts Tagged ‘family’
Reduce you food costs
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Here are two ways to cut rising food costs.
1. Never shop on an empty stomach. When you’re hungry, you are bound to grab some extra, and most likely, unneccessary items. Always eat before you go shopping.
2. Leave the kids at home. Tired and cranky kids generally make shopping take longer and inevitably make you grab a couple things you normally wouldn’t have, just to keep them quiet.
Do you anticipate more income or less income next year?
Friday, October 16th, 2009Tax Strategies to Consider Before 2010
If the recession has touched your life financially, you might want to do some tax planning to either postpone or accelerate your tax deductions and/or income. For those anticipating more income this year than next, it may be prudent to accelerate deductions and postpone income. For those anticipating less income this year than next, consider postponing deductions and accelerating income. Here are some ways to do that.
One example might be to do a conversion of a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. This will result in more income in the year completed, but will reduce taxes in future years, particularly after the Roth has been in place five years. It will be necessary to look at how the additional income will affect your taxes this year before you do complete the process. (more…)
Employment Benefits Planning
Friday, October 2nd, 2009This is the time of the year when employers ask their employees to select the benefits they wish to establish for next year. The proper selection of benefits can result in great values or high costs depending on the employees’ understanding of alternative solutions and the real value benefits being offered. Unfortunately, it varies with each person.
If you are healthy and have no chronic diseases, life insurance offered through your employer will likely be more expensive than what is offered through non-group coverage. Proper selection of the coverage for reduced rates and adequate coverage is necessary and we can assist in that process. Group insurance may be the best alternative for someone with chronic diseases. It should be noted that a loss of employment will also mean a loss of group coverage. (more…)
Mortgage Issues for the Family
Monday, September 14th, 2009Increasingly we are seeing more families facing a financial crisis because of their inability to make mortgage payments. The reasons vary from unemployment to too much credit card debt, reductions in salary caused by overseas competition or significant changes in cost of living. Many people are struggling in today’s economy. The question of course is, “What are the options for the family?”
The first option is to sell the home so as to have a more affordable housing expense. Many times homeowners are reluctant because the home would sell below what the family originally paid. This would obviously result in the seller losing money and leave the mortgage company with an unsecured loan for the remainder of the debt. We would call this type of sale a short sale. For such a sale to take place, the mortgage company would have to agree. The homeowner would then have to pay off the unsecured portion of the debt. The advantage would be to protect the family’s credit rating and avoid bankruptcy. (more…)
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