Articles on Taxes

What can you do with $13 extra a week?

On Friday both the House and the Senate passed a new $789 billion stimulus package as a continuation of the efforts by the United States Government to jumpstart the economy. A sig

Not too late to get your IRS stimulus rebate--if you qualify

A lot of taxpayers missed out on getting their IRS economic stimulus rebate last year, even though they qualified. If you're one of them, you'll be glad to know that there's a way

Rethinking The Early Mortgage Payoff

The borrow-at-a-low-interest-rate-and-invest-to-get-greater-returns mentality was so embedded in our belief system that there almost seemed to be a stigma attached to not carrying

When will the bailouts stop? A summary of 2008 stimulus packages and bailouts in the United States

2008 will probably go down in history as the year of bailouts, crashes, and meltdowns. Here is a quick run down of all the laws and bills congress pushed through with lightning spe

How a $700 billion bailout became a $800 billion "rescue plan"

You might have thought that the $700 billion bailout bill seemed a bit excessive. You'll be relieved to hear that the bill that the President will sign tonight is worth a mere $800

The Highest Yielding "Safe" Investment Now - Tax Exempt Money Market Funds

Last year I wrote an article about how I used my Vanguard Tax Exempt Money Market Fund as a high yield checkings account, and this week I suddenly got quite a few hits for that art

Could the last person to leave America please turn out the light.

I don’t know about you, but I’m more than a little worried by recent economic events. First Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, then Lehman Brothers, and now an $85 billion loan to AIG. So

The Questionable Aspects of The Housing Bailout Bill - H.R. 3221

In my last article I wrote about the one aspect of the $300 billion dollar housing bailout that I thought made sense, but the full text of the bill known as H.R. 3221 is over 700

Patriotism and Personal Finance - A Brief Walk Through American History

To all the Americans out there, happy Independence Day! I think this a great day to reflect upon how personal finance and patriotism is so intertwined in America. So I dug up a f

Investment Gains Taxes Increase - The Worst Tax Policy Ever?

Yesterday Paul Michael wrote an article comparing the income tax policies of McCain and Obama and suggested that he would vote for Obama because Obama's tax policy would benefit ev

More Tax Credits Coming for Homebuyers?

Yesterday I read a news item that stated the House and Senate are considering another tax benefit for homebuyers and homebuilders. The idea the House is considering is basically g

Should You Choose a Roth 401k or a Regular 401k?

Yesterday I was talking to a friend and he mentioned that his company just started offering the option of investing in Roth 401ks. He was wondering if he should stick with his regu

Is Social Security Just A Grand Ponzi Scheme?

I received my Social Security statement this week and it was a useless piece of paper to me since I do not qualify for retirement benefits yet. I always hear critics of Social Sec

To Tax or Not To Tax: That Is The Money Market Question

As America’s love affair with self-investing continues to grow, so does our fascination with tax-free accounts. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.

A Simple Guide to Series I Savings Bonds (I-Bonds)

After the recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve many of my bank and money market interest rates plummeted.  Now the best yield I have is on my Series I Savings Bonds iss

Why You Should Donate a Blood Sucking Timeshare

My parents always told me that buying a timeshare is a bad idea because of the inflated upfront cost and perpetual maintenance and exchange fees the timeshare companies pile on.

Could a Divorce Improve Your Finances?

When I was single, I thought that getting married would reduce my expenses greatly, and after I got married I realized that in some instances

Taxes on irregular income

This is really a non-issue, if you work a regular job:  Your employer withholds taxes.  It's also not much of an issue if you're self-employed and your income is reasonably

Software review: TurboTax

I wasn't looking forward to doing my taxes this year.  They were going to be more complicated than in years past, because I left my regular job and started working full-time as

You must file a tax return to get economic stimulus tax rebate

Surely by now everyone has heard of the economic stimulus tax rebate. To get it, though, you have to file a return.