Posts Tagged ‘financial’
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
The tax cuts instituted under President Bush are going to expire at the end of this year. Maybe you believe those in Washington will extend the current tax law, but that would take an act of Congress. If they’re not extended, how serious will this be to the average person? How will this tax increase of $2.4 trillion affect the average tax payer?
This lack of repeal will increase taxes for 17 million seniors an average of $2,034 per year according to the Heritage Foundation, a Washington D.C. non-profit think tank. That is approximately $170 per month! Many seniors will find themselves dipping into savings to pay the taxes, if they have savings at all. (more…)
Tags: business, debt, financial, income, money, retirement, save, tax
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Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
To save time and money on home renovations, consider these two ideas.
1. Prepare for the contractors. Ask your handyman if it’s okay to do prep work and purchase supplies. Buying supplies in advance can save big because contractors often charge a mark-up for materials.
2.
DIY advice for free. Go to
youtube.com and type in “askthebuilder” for how-to videos on simple procedures, like replacing a faucet or a light fixture.
Tags: electric, energy, financial, house, money, save, utility, water
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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
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.
(more…)
Tags: business, debt, family, financial, health, healthcare, income, inflation, medical, MEDICARE, money, retirement, save, tax
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Friday, December 11th, 2009
We live in such a complex world today. Each day brings more legislation to add to the complexity. How does the average person cope? Having counseled multitudes of people over the years, I find it fascinating that so much money is wasted by even the brightest people. We live under the belief that an accountant, a financial planner, a business executive, a banker, an insurance advisor, a lawyer, a physician, a mortgage broker, and a financial aid officer will provide our needed knowledge. I have counseled all of these types of advisors and found significant money they had thrown away because of their lack of knowledge. Are we all bright enough or have we as a people entered into such a specialized world that no one is taking time to address the bigger picture? There is money to be saved for everyone.
Proverbs 19:2 says, “It is not good to have zeal before knowledge.” We live in a society that has zeal and limited knowledge so we miss out on the hidden manna that is available to everyone. (more…)
Tags: appliances, business, debt, energy, financial, food, house, income, money, save, tax, utility, water
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Friday, October 16th, 2009
Tax 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…)
Tags: business, car, employment, family, financial, income, money, tax
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Friday, October 2nd, 2009
This 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…)
Tags: debt, employment, family, financial, health, medical, money, retirement, save, tax
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Monday, September 14th, 2009
Increasingly 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…)
Tags: debt, family, financial, house, income, money, tax
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Friday, June 26th, 2009
HELPING OTHERS
The complexity of good stewardship for today’s family has gone way beyond the average person’s comprehension and understanding. As an independent financial advisor for over forty years, I have found it increasingly difficult to stay abreast of the constant changes in government programs, tax law, health care, debt management, portfolio analysis, technology, food cost reduction, consumer products, automobile maintenance, estate planning, retirement planning, college cost reduction, home financing, extended health care (nursing homes, assisted living, etc.), career management, employment benefits, and personal budget management. Living expense reduction and asset management is my life’s work, but few financial planners specialize in both of these areas. If I have trouble keeping up with all the changes, do you think most people in our society have missed taking full advantage of their resources?
(more…)
Tags: business, debt, financial, health, income, money, save, tax
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Thursday, June 4th, 2009
Utilities and Energy
Under the proposed measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by our current Congress, called cap and trade agreements, everyone should expect utilities and gasoline expenses to increase. This increase will primarily impact the low to middle income families as we expect substantial increases in utility bills. In addition, this will impact heavy users of electricity, primarily in manufacturing, resulting in either the costs to comply with the regulations being passed on to consumers or the transfer of these operations to countries where the cap and trade rules do not apply. This of course will cause more job losses in this country.
It is obvious the goal is not to reduce emissions. The United States has had more reduction of emissions without these agreements than have European countries, which already put these agreements in place. So what is the point? The real goal is to introduce a socialist agenda and to create another profit center for energy producing companies. Ken Lay, former CEO of the now defunct Enron, was a strong proponent of this plan because of the business opportunities and the profits it creates at the consumer’s expense. (more…)
Tags: appliances, electric, energy, financial, heat, house
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Friday, May 29th, 2009
Maximizing Compensation
Having been engaged in financial planning for over forty years I am fascinated by the lack of care taken by employees, business owners, ministry leaders and their advisers in the structure of compensation. Too often significant dollars are spent needlessly because of a lack of understanding of some of the fundamental tax laws. Structuring compensation properly can benefit the owner, the business or ministry, and the employees, saving thousands of dollars.
I always begin this process by reviewing the personal budget of the owner or ministry leader. From there we identify future goals of the decision maker so that we can look at what new employee benefits we may want to introduce in the future. Next, a review of the business budget is done to identify tax liability levels for the company and how money is being spent. We begin to methodically look at reducing any items in the business budget that may decrease operating expenses. Businesses can be structured to pay healthcare costs, dental, long term care insurance, eyeglass care, childcare, transportation, parking, adoption, life insurance, disability insurance, educational reimbursement, prescriptions, and moving costs on a pre-tax basis. Additional deductions can be realized with retirement plans and, in some cases, utilities and housing allowances. (more…)
Tags: business, financial, income, money, save, tax
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