Article Written by : Scrumpy Jack
The Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) industry is a $1.5 trillion strong and expanding exponentially. At the same time the luster of mutual fund industry is taking a back seat. Why ETFs are so hot? There are several reasons.
There are certain payments that you pay that are eligible for a tax deduction but most people overlook them. Here are some of those instances.
For those who are self-employed, your health insurance premium is tax deductible. This includes your medical, dental, and long-term care insurance premium you pay for the whole family. Under the Affordable Care Act, 2014 tax filing for some may cost additional taxes. All individuals are required to carry health insurance and those without may have to pay a penalty.
We all know that we can deduct interest we pay on our mortgage when we file taxes. But, how about points we paid when we bought a new home or refinanced an existing mortgage? Some people pay points to lower their mortgage interest rate. Your cost to pay for points is deductible. However, they are to be spread over the life of the loan.
Deducting state and local taxes you pay get a bit complicated. States such as California and New York allow tax payers to deduct state and local taxes they pay. But not all states allow this. However, sales tax you pay on purchases is deductible for people who live in Florida and Texas. Remember to keep all your purchase receipts.
Many thinks that marrying someone with a lower credit score will result in automatically lowering the other spouses’ credit score. This is not true. It is true that after marriage creditors will look at both spouses credit reports. However, individual credit scores that existed prior to the marriage will continue with new credit information added.
Article Written by : Financial Resources 101
When it comes to tax planning, many of us concentrate only on Federal income tax. Beware that there is a tax bite that comes from the state too. Unfortunately state tax from state to state differs and it is hard to generalize. Still some common themes can be identified. They include how states treat retirement income, Social Security, inheritance and property taxes.
Article Written by : Future Finance Solutions
Being in debt is normally not recommended by anyone. However, there are some debts such as taking out a mortgage, getting student loan to fund your education, and an auto loan to buy a car can be good.
Buying a home is part of “the American Dream.” It is the largest investment for many ordinary Americans. Don’t forget the tax benefits you get when you file your Federal tax return. Buying a home is not for everyone. In some expensive home price communities, only option available may be to rent. Also, people who don’t like repairs and maintenance, buying a home may not be a wise decision.
Student loans are cheap way to finance your education that will give you years of earning power. People with college degrees have more earning power, competitive advantage as well as advancement opportunities compared to fellow non-degree workers.
Buying a car with a car loan can help you to establish credit. If you can make a substantial down payment, it will lower your monthly payment. Shop around for a better loan rate and make sure to buy a car that you can afford without breaking the bank. Set aside some funds for maintenance.
Single mistake in your retirement funds can lockout your loved ones inheriting your retirement income. Even well-constructed plan prepared by veteran wealth advisors and attorneys could overlook this simple step. It is the correctly filled and properly filed beneficiary form. Properly completed document should contain name of each heir and the share of funds each designee should receive. Avoid referring to another document such as your will, testament and other final documents. This violates the instructions which calls for names and allocation percentages and therefore, violates the requirement to complete the form properly causing the form to be invalidated. Then the result may be not something you intended. In the absence of a property completed designation form, your IRA, bank accounts, stocks, annuities, bonds and other retirement funds may be distributed to your surviving spouse and children. It had happened to too many people where heirs learned a costly lesson.
Beneficiary forms may help your heirs to bypass probate and access funds immediately after your death. It is also important to update the form when changes occur. When you complete a form, keep a hard copy of it in your valuable documents so that your heirs can find it easily.
Most of us have heard the term “FDIC Insured,” but few actually realize what that means. The organization got its start in 1933, four years after the crash of the stock market in 1929. The history of the FDIC paints a picture of a country that hoped to shield its citizens from the potential troubles a bank giant could cause.
Politicians always want us to believe they live in a house they built themselves. This gratuitous self-reliance is often shunned by the greater public as disingenuous, but there is no doubt that relying on oneself is crucial to the survival of the modern economy.
Wealth is not a fixed quantity. What you consider wealthy may be different from your parent’s ideas on the matter, for instance. Therefore, distributing “wealth” to others is essentially creating a vacuum with no pre-defined limits. At what point does one stop giving? If the wealthy give so much away that they become equal to others, should others not also give? This begins to sound more like a system of moving money, rather than exchanging goods or performing meaningful services.
The key difference is the element of self-reliance. Marxism argues that the individual should reap the rewards of his efforts, and is instead cheated by private enterprise and land owners. Yet, even Marx understood that wealth was created and not found. On some level, consumerism is essential to prosperity and modern living. This means production, enterprise, entrepreneurship and ultimately jobs.
Consumerism implies the exchange of goods. If not money, then something of value that someone worked to earn. It can be difficult to distinguish usury from self-reliance. Money lenders enable others to prosper, yet are consistently vilified for the perception that they create something from nothing. In truth, it is self-reliance that drives the practice of money lending and vise versa.
To learn forex is not such a simple task. Many a veteran forex trader will tell you that although it is possible to eke out a profit from the forex market, the truth is that one must use the investment tools that have provided to him in order to be successful.
Remember: Just because you have defaulted once or twice doesn’t mean you need to suffer from inconsolable collectors all your life. You may have defaulted on your credit card dues several years ago, but your credit report clearly states the debt was written off by the company who issued your card. You’re received nasty calls and letters from the collection agency to which your account has been forwarded, but that was it. They stopped bugging you, and you think you’re finally free from them. You may have to think twice.