On this lazy Sunday afternoon we wanted to share some good tips that Mint.com has shared in their investment guide.
They provide a simple and easy to understand guide that covers the basics such as determining if your ready to invest, what risk you are willing to take, tips for investing for the long haul and diversifying your investments.
When it comes to investing people can easily and often be scared off by making it more complicated than it is. Take these tips from Mint and you’ll be ready to move forward and start your investing, or grow what you already have.
This is my final post that I will submit to Miel and James for DINKSFinance as their part-time writer. Unfortunately my full-time job responsibilities are changing in such a way that makes it impossible for me to fulfill those and still have time to put in the effort I feel is necessary to deliver quality content for Miel and James.
First of all, I’d like to thank Miel and James for giving me this opportunity. They took a chance on a young person with no writing experience and they had enough faith in me to let me write about what I wanted. They supported me in a fantastic way, and I owe them a huge debt of gratitude for all that they have done for me. I really enjoyed my time writing for them, and I’m very sad that I will have to let this go. I only hope that they feel that their faith in me wasn’t misplaced and that they enjoyed having me on board as much as I enjoyed writing for them.
I would also like to thank the readers of DINKSFinance for not only reading what I had to write but also commenting on my posts, following me on Twitter and sending me emails. I really enjoyed interacting with you, whether you agreed with what I had to say or not, I valued your feedback a great deal, and if I’ve improved at all as a writer since I came on board, it would be a great deal because of my interactions with you. I think DINKSFinance has a great community, one that I’ve certainly enjoyed getting to know from this side of the webpage.
I’ll still be an avid reader of DINKSFinance, and I’ll drop a comment or two every once in a while for sure. Again, it’s been an honor to be a part of this website, and I’ll certainly miss writing my posts. I wish Miel, James and David the best of luck, and again, thank you.
as winners to our recent Tax Lady book give away. If they can please contact us immediately so we can send the books their way that would be greatly appreciated. If we don’t get responses by the end of the weekend we will select new winners.
The idea of a minimum wage is a complicated topic, and I know many people who favor themselves as free-market advocates. That ideology is in direct contradiction to something like a minimum wage. If we live in a completely free market then the market itself will set an informal minimum wage, and thus legislation that forces an artificial minimum wage level would be rendered unnecessary. Also, opponents of a minimum wage suggest that it causes inflation, forces companies to look outside the country for workers and actually does nothing to raise the standard of living of the poor.
Despite what some may suggest, unbiased, quantitative research into the affect of a minimum wage is sparse. Studies are usually either too narrow in their focus, don’t cover a significant enough time frame to study or their results are too inconclusive. If anyone can point me to any research that doesn’t present those types of problems, please point it out to me; I’d be happy to take a look.
The argument that a minimum wage goes against free market principles is a silly one to me, because to the best of my knowledge there does not exist a modern economy based on a completely free market. Say what you will about the role the federal government plays in our economy, but to me it’s not constructive to argue free markets when there is virtually no traction when it comes to changing some of the fundamental principles of how our economy is managed.
Other arguments are more substantive, and should be paid attention to – especially if research proves that a minimum wage has no impact on the standard of living for the poor. But the best defense of a minimum wage that I’ve read was written by Robert Prasch in the Journal of Economic Issues. To quote Prasch’s conclusion:
“Finally, an increase in the minimum wage might also work to undermine systemic economic power and thereby be responsible for a more just, or at least a reasonable, distribution of society’s annual income. One also suspects that to the extent that the United States is currently suffering from a “stagnationist” economic pattern, an increase the minimum wage may be a popular, timely, and successful economic policy” [Mazur 1995].
Keep in mind this was written in 1996 he writes about a “stagnationist” economic pattern. When he talks about a “just … distribution of society’s annual income”, he’s referencing a commonly held economic theory that states that societies experience more spending across the board when income is more evenly distributed (this will probably be judged as controversial; for more background information on this topic, look into Post-Keynesian views on income distribution).
Regardless of your previously-held opinion on this matter, it’s a very interesting article to read. Readers, what are your thoughts on the minimum wage?
I could post for weeks on all of the great tips that Roni includes in your book, but this will be my last post before the big giveaway. I couldn’t leave out these great tips on a few common mistakes to look out for, and how to avoid delays in receiving your tax return:
Three tips to make sure you file accurately
Use a computer to avoid someone having to interpret your handwriting.
Be exact, rounding numbers is not favored by the IRS and will make your more likely to be audited.
Maintain good records throughout the year (the Tax Lady covers this extensively)
Make sure you do the following to prevent delays:
Signature – It seems obvious but happens more than you’d think
Filing Status – Choosing the wrong one could cost you plenty as well as make your return disallowable.
Social Security Number – It also seems like a no-brainer, but easy to get wrong.
Allowable Exemptions – Make sure you include the right number of exemptions, you don’t want to miss out on these.
Tax Forms – Make sure you add forms in the right order, while it seems small, it makes a big difference in having something review your taxes. If they are messy it makes it much harder for you to know that you did it right, and for someone to review.
Check your check – That is right, if you are paying, make sure that your current contact information as well as your social security number are listed on your check. You don’t want yours to go missing.
Lastly, if you’ve found any of this week’s postings to be at all helpful, I would recommend going out and buying The Tax Lady’s Guide to Beating the IRS. I don’t often recommend buying the books that I review, but this would be an exception to that. Not only is there a great deal of information, but it is reader friendly and easy to find what you need most. At the end of the book she even lays out the fifty top tips.
Readers: Please leave us a comment for our giveaway, today is the last day to comment!
One of the best parts of The Tax Lady’s book is that it seems there is no end to the great tips she gives. The book is really easily laid out and is a wealth of information.
While not everyone can afford to do so, one of the interesting tips was the benefits to buying a house for your college student to live in while they are in school.
Instead of paying for student housing, you can reap the benefits of investing instead. Basically it goes like this:
You buy a house or an apartment with a couple of rooms.
You hire your son/daughter to manage the property (finding tenants, collecting rent, and arranging for maintenance and repairs – or learning some themselves).
You pay your son/daughter for their work (claiming this as legitimate management fees).
You charge rent from your student and their housemates.
You also claim deductions for mortgage interest, property taxes, and depreciation.
If the rental shows a loss and you qualify for the $25,000 exception to the passive loss rules, that loss can also shelter other income.
If you can sell the property after graduation for a profit, that is just the icing on the cake.
In addition to all of the tax benefits, you also teach your son or daughter invaluable lessons in business management and making money. It is really a win win situation.
We know someone who did this for their child who was starting Tulane in the 2005. Unfortunately, this was only weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit, so needless to say, a loss was had.
Readers: Please leave us a comment for our giveaway, and I’d love your thoughts on this idea.
Today I’ve got a rant on something I had heard rumor of before, but still can’t quite believe how messed up our system is.
As it happens, an exception to the luxury car rules allows you to use expensing if your new business vehicle is heavier than six thousand pounds. For a car, that means six thousand pounds empty, which disqualifies almost all cars right off the bat.
But, for a sports utility vehicle, it is six thousand pounds including the maximum for passengers and cargo, so many SUVs can qualify.
My side comment to this, not The Tax Lady’s, is how on earth can our government create a tax system that gives benefits for purchasing SUVs rather than disincentives. It just really doesn’t make sense.
At least if they left things alone and didn’t subsidize SUVs or gas people could make choices based on the real cost of driving a car.
Readers: Please leave us a comment for our giveaway, and I’d love your thoughts on this reg.
Cheers,
Miel
P.S. There was an article today on the New York Times today called “G.M. to Close Hummer After Sales Collapse” So perhaps there is justice in the world, or at least reduced demand for gas guzzling behemoths driving on freeways in America, despite the tax system!
PLEASE LEAVE US A COMMENT FOR THIS WEEK’S BOOK GIVEAWAY!!!
In keeping with our tax week with the book giveaway from The Tax Lady, Roni Deutch, here are the her top ten tax-record keeping tips for small business owners:
Keep business and personal tax records separate.
Open a separate checking account for your business and keep your records accordingly.
Keep all records and receipts to support income and expenses claimed.
Use a separate credit card for your business.
Keep a business use mileage log for your service vehicle.
Avoid cash purchases that do not produce a valid receipt.
Reconcile your bank and credit car statements each month.
Highlight all long distance business calls on your personal (home) telephone bill.
Get a receipt for everything. If the expense was incurred for business purposes or in the course of producing business income, it is likely to be tax deductible.
Keep all records and receipts in a safe, dry location.
One of the things that Roni hits on throughout her book is the importance of staying organized, as this will pay off in spades.
A favorite example of this from the small business perspective is the real cost of missing business expenses. Say you forget a $20 receipt that you should have claimed, once you add in the overstating of your taxes as well as the tax increase, this comes out to cost you $8.06 additional in taxes. She goes into all of the detail on how this is calculated, and it makes you really realize the power of missed expenses.
Please leave us a comment and we will be giving away a copy of the Tax Lady’s book on Friday!
On this lazy Sunday afternoon we wanted to share some good tips that Mint.com has shared in their investment guide.
