Money Tips Network

This started off as a reader mailbag question, but as many of them do, the answer ended up with so much detail that it grew into an article of its own. Lori wrote in to ask this:

What financial news do you pay attention to? FBN? CNBC? Do you read WSJ?

My initial answer was straightforward: I don’t really pay any attention to financial news at all. I don’t watch Fox Business Network. I don’t watch CNBC. I don’t read the Wall Street Journal.

Why not? The reason is really simple. I read things for three reasons: I’m learning about a topic, I’m shaping my opinion on an issue, or I’m preparing to take action on something in my life. The vast majority of “news” out there doesn’t do any of those things.

Believe it or not, the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) actually make quite the effort to maintain accurate data and to post only correct information on your credit reports. They do this because credit reporting mistakes can be costly — and bad for their image, too. And, mistakes can lead to lower consumer credit scores and difficulties in getting approved for credit.

Credit reporting mistakes can also potentially lead to lawsuits and regulatory problems, both issues the CRAs would rather avoid. Throw in the fact that each CRA wants to be able to advertise to their customers (lenders, insurance companies, and the like) that their data is the most accurate available, and you can see why each CRA is highly motivated to maintain accurate information on consumer credit reports.

In 2017, the IRS received 152,235,000 tax returns — and of those returns, more than 73 percent were granted a refund. With the average refund last year standing at $2,895, you might think getting a windfall in the spring is a good thing.

Racking up airline points by flying or using travel rewards credit cards is fairly easy, but redeeming them for award flights can be more challenging.

In the past couple months, it's become abundantly clear that today's teens are tenacious and enterprising.

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Three thousand years ago, there lived a great hero named Ulysses (or Odysseus, if you prefer), king of Ithaca, champion of the Trojan War, and, it turns out, pioneer of personal finance.

Ulysses wrestled Ajax, retrieved the body of Achilles (the hero shot in his heel), and devised the clever Trojan horse, which allowed the Greek army to infiltrate Troy and end the decade-long struggle.

When the conflict was over, Ulysses spent another ten years desperately trying to sail home to Ithaca. He visited the lotus-eaters, was captured by (and escaped from) the cyclops, evaded both cannibals and the witch-god Circe. He slipped past the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool called Charybdis. After all these troubles (and more!), Ulysses reached Ithaca and regained his throne.

As tax season gets close to wrapping up, I thought this piece from Business Insider was timely

It gives a flowchart, decision-tree on whether you should do your taxes yourself or have someone else do them for you.

The times they suggest you should hire someone include:

• Household income over $200k
• Self-employed or own a business
• Extensive investments
• Make large charitable donations
• Had a major life change like baby or marriage
• Don't have the time and patience to DIY

Other than the major life changes, all of these pertained to my family for most of the past 20 years. That's why we've used a CPA to do our taxes for most of that time.

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