In 2018, the IRS issued some 100,000,000 tax refunds. The average check was for just under $3,000. For many people, a tax refund is an important part of their year, financially. People count on it and often use it to treat themselves in a way they otherwise would not. But there are good ways and… Read More
Tax Deductions You May Qualify For (as reported by Mia Taylor on www.thesimpledollar.com)
Taking deductions on your taxes has always been a complicated endeavor. But the recent tax law passed by Congress in 2017 tried to make the process far simpler for most people. To do this, they raised the “standard deduction” to $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for married couples filing together. This means that there… Read More
No Such Thing as a Safe Job (as reported by Trent Hamm on www.thesimpledollar.com)
The recent government shutdown disrupted people’s lives and work all over this country. And it brought with it a useful set of lessons in the world of personal finance. Let’s review them- First, there is no such thing as a “safe” job. While we all seek stability through work, we must admit that events and… Read More
New IRS Validation Rules (as reported by www.cpapractiveadvisor.com)
This time of the year, the IRS fields countless calls from taxpayers and CPAs who have questions about tax filing. But all too often, they are flooded with another kind of call as well. These calls come from scammers whose sole aim is to defraud the IRS and potentially steal some valuable identifying information in… Read More
Should You Do Your Own Taxes? (as reported by David Ning on www.moneyning.com)
Should you hire someone to do your taxes or should you do them yourself? That is a question many people confront each year around this time. And it helps to have a few experienced professionals weigh in on the answer. This recent article from MoneyNing deals directly with the question at hand, and provides some… Read More
CFPB Aims to Rollback Regulation on Payday Lenders (as reported by Stacy Cowley on www.seattletimes.com)
Payday lenders, which had been scaled back by regulations implemented during the Obama administration, are back in business. This is thanks to a new ruling by the same agency that had originally applied those regulations, which is now rolling some or all of them back. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has quite controversially reversed course… Read More
Investing Advice for Normal Folks (as reported by Hamilton Nolan on splinternews.com)
Don’t let the title of the article throw you, “The Stupid Idiot’s Guide to Investing Your Little Bit of Money” is filled with useful advice. And it starts with a premise that most of us can understand – that almost all personal financial advice assumes you have money to invest and you’re just waiting for… Read More
Tax Brackets, Explained (as reported by Trent Hamm on www.thesimpledollar.com)
There has been a lot in the news recently about tax brackets – both because it is tax season and because tax policy is back in the news. Confusingly, many of those pieces featured on cable news programs are either factually incorrect or misleading. Which is why this new article from The Simple Dollar is… Read More
Student Loans May Be Forgiven in Bankruptcy (as reported by Robert Farrington on www.forbes.com)
A common myth has it that student loans are not forgivable under any circumstance, including bankruptcy. But the truth is, though rare, some student loans are forgiven through the bankruptcy process. Prior to 1976, a person could discharge her student loans in bankruptcy without any problem. But as the total amount of student loan debt… Read More
Save on Car Insurance (as reported on article.everquote.com)
Car insurance is a necessary evil for drivers of all stripes. You can’t drive legally in the US without it. But for those of you out there who have ever been involved in an auto accident, you know the value of insurance. EverQuote is a tool that allows drivers to shop for car insurance and… Read More