Easy Change

The time has come again where I am preparing to do taxes for 2008. This year, like most years in the past, I am actually looking forward to doing my taxes. Fortunately, my W2 form came a little earlier than the January 31 deadline , so I was able to start early. Many people recommend going to a professional to do taxes to avoid any mistakes. If you have a complicated return or are uneasy for some other reason, then I would definitely go that route. Personally, the first year I started my business, I made an appointment at H+R Block to get my taxes taken care of. As for the subsequent years though, I simply did the taxes online. Over the past several years of doing taxes though, I've definitely learned some key tips that have really helped. 1. Make sure you adjust your tax withholding. If you have a business, you may find that you tend to owe taxes. In this age of shrinking economy, you don't want to be in that position next year, so make sure to pay quarterly taxes and/or incre...

Recently, I got some very good news with regard to work-related compensation. In this economy, and in this troubled time of unemployment, any good news is really great news. So, for us right now, we're looking at a bonus, albeit smaller than expected. In addition, there will be a three percent raise. So many people are losing their jobs, that there are not situations where people who even have their jobs may not be getting raises or bonuses at all. So, I'm quite grateful. I think that it is important that people are grateful for what they have and realize that this is a time to be even more conservative. In this regard, I'm practicing what I preach here. And even in a good economy, this type of behavior is a good idea. It will make you more likely to keep your job when times are tough and more likely to get a raise and/or promotion when times are good. I'm convinced that these principals are what has helped me succeed in my current job. 1. Work hard. This is general, bu...

This evening, I decided I would log in and check on my current portfolio of prosper loans. Not long ago, I railed against prosper and now it appears that there is definitely something big going on over at prosper. The message from their website: start of message Prosper Filing Registration Statement; Enters Quiet Period Prosper has started a process to register, with the appropriate securities authorities, promissory notes that may be offered and sold to lenders through our site in the future. Until we complete the registration process, we will not accept new lender registrations or allow new commitments from existing lenders. If you're an existing lender, your current lender agreements will be unaffected; your existing loans will continue to be serviced; you'll be able to track and monitor your loans; and you'll be able to withdraw funds from your Prosper account. If you're a borrower with an existing loan, you will continue with your current borrower agreement and be ...

In the craziness that continues to happen in this economy, it is important to stay focused and remember to review your overall plan. Focusing on this plan is a big part of making sure that you are able to withstand all of the news and panic that is running amok lately. For me, personally, the plan is pretty straightforward and so I figured I'd share it with you. 1. Pay all bills. Not just on time. Early. Period. 2. Never commit to debt that I am not extremely comfortable with paying off in 3 years or less. The only possible exception to this is a mortgage in the event of a move. 3. Continue paying down outstanding debts, focusing mostly on the smallest debt until it is paid down. Personally, I do not focus every free penny on debt paydowns like some personal finance experts advocate doing. I think that the importance of a significant emergency fund is just ignored during these broad statements about debt reduction. 4. Continue building the emergency and freedom funds with approxima...

This week has been quite a ride already and we're not even half done. Lehman Brothers is bankrupt , B of A buying Merrill Lynch , and AIG not looking so hot, searching for some emergency money ..... One of the most important things you can have in this kind of uncertain time is an emergency fund. Not only should you have it, it should be big. The next best thing you can do is cut expenses and do all that you can to shore up your financial footing because who knows where the financial axe is coming from? I know that for many people out there, it is simply too late to do much in the short term about their emergency fund and way too difficult to figure out what to do to move their money around in any significant way. There are 3 things small things you should consider doing though, right now, before the summer ends in order to start picking up some stability in these uncertain times: 1. Make sure that your "safe" money is really safe. If its safe money, it is in an account t...

An article on MSN Money offers a few of the following "average" benefits from companies according to a recent survey. I thought it was pretty interesting to learn how my company benefits were compared to the average. How does your benefit package stack up? Fringe benefits can be costly for companies but significantly improve loyaly among employees. Immediate eligibility for a health-care plan. A 401(k) plan in which the typical match is 50 cents for each $1 an employee contributes, up to a certain percentage of pay. Access to a dental plan with 100% of exams covered and 80% coverage for dental work. Access to a vision plan separate from medical or dental coverage. A group life insurance plan that pays a year of salary or wages as a death benefit. Long-term-disability benefits with pay replacement of 60%. On average, 11.7 days of vacation after one year of service and 15.4 after five years of service. Eight to 12 paid holidays a year. Dependent-care spending accounts and ac...

Like many other pf bloggers out there, I am already starting to think about my taxes and what the implications of the changes at the IRS will do to my tax return. At any rate, since I have been good lately at getting a jump on certain things, I have actually already signed in and gotten myself started with my tax return. I don't have all of the figures yet, but I got a list of the items that I will need. And thankfully, I have been good so far about keeping receipts and also categorizing my business purchases as I go so that I can make sure that there are no crazy 10 hour sessions while doing this thing. And even more good news is that my company is now using an ADP on-line tool for paychecks which means that I will be able to get my w2 information electronically...long before the traditional mailed copy. And since I just logged into my ING account and they make it easy to send the refund there directly, this makes me even happier :)

As I get ready to wrap up another year, it seems there's always more financial work to do. Not long ago I went through my seasonal save-it, pitch-it fight with all the old bank statements, paperwork etc. However, I am realizing that the real interesting thing for me right now is getting ready for tax time and figuring out how much of a refund I will likely get. I know that I am going to get some flack for this but I have extra tax taken out of my check each pay period. Mostly, I do this to make sure that I never underpay my taxes. The other nice feature about this is that it provides some built-in buffer against my side income so that I am not whacked with a large amount of money in tax at the end of the year. This little extra kick in each regular paycheck means that I can generally use the side income as I see fit throughout the year. So now I am in the process of divvying up my expenses and such for the year into categories and getting ready to start filling out the forms on...