- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
"annualcreditreport.com" 12b-1 fees 401k 401k match 403b 457b 1974 1987 2001-2002 2008-2009 active duty advisor search alternative minimum tax area agency on aging asset allocation asset protection atm automobiles bad debt bank fees banking banking on-line banking relationships banks beneficiaries benefit term black monday bond duration bond investing 101 bond ratings brazil bric bureau of consumer financial protection bypass trust capital gains career transition caregiver 101 care manager car loans cash management catch-up contributions charity china college planning commodities compound interest core series cost basis coverdell ira cpa credit credit card credit reports credit score credit union cross purchase buy-sell agreeement custodial fees daily benefit amount debit card debt decision making deflation derivatives desires directive to physicians disability insurance divorce djia dollar cost averaging downsizing ea ebri economic education elder care elimination period emergency fund employment energy credits energy tax estate planning estate tax euro european union eurozone exemption equivalent expense ratio fafsa fair isaac family care giver federal deficit federal reserve fee-only fico fiduciary fiduciary standard financial financial aid financial coach financial planning financial reform bill financial stability oversight council find an advisor flexible spending account foreign markets foreign stocks form 1099 formula clauses front-end load generation skipping tax gifting gift taxes goals and objectives good debt government grants grat greece guardianship happiness harvesting losses healthcare health care directives health care reform health insurance premiums health savings accounts hedging high deductible insurance plans homeowner tax credit housing hsa i-bonds identity theft income tax income tax preparation india inflation insurance interest rates internet tax investing investment income investments ira ira distributions irs italy itemized deductions japan laddering layoff life insurance life insurance trust linkedin long-term care lost decade marginal tax rate marginal tax rates marriage medicaid medicaid tax medical insurance medicare medicare supplement medigap money monte carlo simulation mortgage nais.org napfa nasdaq ncua needs net-operating loss carryforward net worth new year's resolutions nine minutes no-load non-cancellation non-mortgage debt obamacare occupational outlook handbook office of credit ratings ofice of credit rating own occupation partnership personality portugal post-divorce action power of attorney prescription drug benefit private school education profit sharing plan prospectus quarterly update real estate refinance regulation residual benefit retirement plan contributions retirement planning retirement plans retirement relocation ria risk tolerance roth 401k roth 403b roth ira roth ira conversion russia s&p 500 schedule c schedule d scholarships sep shop exchanges simple ira small business social security sole proprietor spain spending spending plan standard deduction step-up basis stimulus check stock market stock market recovery stock markets surrender charges tarp tax-free bond taxable bond tax credits tax loss harvesting tips total return strategies transaction fees unemployment unemployment benefits upsizing us news & world report vat volcker rule wealth building wealth management webinar wills women yield curve
Making Cents
Subscribe
Viewing entries tagged with 'ea'
What Exactly is Wealth Management?
WHAT EXACTLY IS WEALTH MANAGEMENT?
The two words signify a far-reaching kind of financial care.
There’s financial planning, and then there’s wealth management. Think of wealth management as a step up from garden-variety financial planning. One office provides a range of services for a client: personal financial planning and investment management, tax reduction and estate planning strategies, and occasionally in-house legal resources. Business continuation planning, tax preparation and even budgeting and bill paying are sometimes added to the menu.
The difference is really big-picture. Financial planning usually means creating a strategy for accumulating wealth for retirement and personal goals. Investment management focuses on managing financial assets with a performance level in mind. Wealth management, in comparison, considers the total net worth of a family, a couple or an individual. It weighs financial decisions in light of an investment portfolio and additional components of the financial picture such as real estate, insurance, a business, charitable gifting and more.
Yet it is also about paying attention to detail. Every successful professional or business owner reaches a point of delegation – there comes a point at which you can’t do it all yourself. Indeed, it can be hazardous to try and keep track of every detail without help. The same goes for your finances – your taxes, your investments, your various accounts.
Good wealth management helps you stay on top of things. A skilled wealth management firm pays attention to many of the financial details in your life for you. You can free up your mind. You feel confident because the wealth management firm has an ongoing relationship with you, with regular reviews and communication.
Health Savings Account Advantages
Health Savings Account Advantages
Health Savings Accounts offer more than tax breaks.
Why do people open up Health Savings Accounts in tandem with high-deductible insurance plans? Well, here are some of the compelling reasons why younger, healthier employees decide to have HSAs.
#1: Tax-deductible contributions. These accounts are funded with pre-tax income. Your annual contribution limit to an HSA depends on your age and the type of insurance plan you have in conjunction with the account. For 2010, the limit is set at $3,050 (individual plan) and $6,150 (family plan). If you are older than 55, those limits are nudged $1,000 higher.(source)
Will Financial Reform Live up to the Political Hype?
Will Financial Reform Live Up to the Political Hype?
Much is hazy about the Dodd-Frank bill, even though it has passed.
Will the goals of the reform bill really be met? On July 15, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed 60-39 in the Senate. Next week, the bill is expected to be signed it into law.(source)
"Because of this reform, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street's mistakes," the President said in mid-July. "There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts, period." Time will tell if this is true, Mr. President.
Financial Reform Bill Highlights
FINANCIAL REFORM BILL HIGHLIGHTS
Congress agrees on a bill. How would it change the financial landscape?
The New Migraine Headache - Form 1099
The New Migraine Headache - Form 1099
Warning! Please be seated when you read this blog post. One of the provisions of the Health Care Reform bill is going to give all Americans a migraine headache. Section 9006 of the health care reform bill is going to require the use of Form 1099 in huge quantities. Picture this … it’s a chilly morning in January 2012. You head out to your local office supply store to stock up on some essentials for your business – printer cartridges, copy paper, post-it notes, and a 500-pack of 1099 forms.
What? What was that last item again? 1099s? Yes, we may need them in bulk.
In 2012, you may need hundreds of 1099s. Why? Section 9006 of H.R. 3590 (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as the health care reform bill) has quietly ordered an enormous change in tax reporting.
Section 9006 says that starting on January 1, 2012, all businesses must issue 1099 tax forms not only to freelancers and vendors, but also to any individual, business or corporation from which they purchase more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year. What? Unbelievable. (source)(source)
Think about this for a moment. Let’s say that in 2012, you spend a few days in Dallas on business and stay at a nice hotel. If the bill is more than $600, you’ll have to give that hotel (and the IRS) a 1099 for your visit. Suppose you buy $900 worth of office furniture at a big-box retailer. Guess what: your company will have to give that retailer (and the IRS) a 1099.(source)
If you rent office space, you’ll need to send a 1099 to the IRS and your landlord. If your business buys a used truck worth more than $600, it will be time for a 1099. And so on.(source)
Even if you pay more than $600 incrementally to a business for goods or services in 2012 (i.e., you buy wine and sparkling water for your café every week from the same warehouse), you will still have to issue that business and the IRS a 1099.(source)(source)
This means you’ll have to have taxpayer ID numbers for every freelancer, vendor and business from whom you purchase tangible goods and services. Another unbelievable burden on small and large business alike.
Why would the government do this? The goal is better reporting, plain and simple. The IRS estimates that $300 billion (that’s billion) in tax revenue goes down the drain annually as a consequence of unreported income.(source)
If 1099s record the majority of payments a business makes, that means businesses and self-employed individuals will be less likely to understate revenue and overstate expenses. In 2012, it will be easier to figure out precisely which business transactions need 1099s. If more than $600 is involved, the answer will be yes – that will be the only test.(source)
Is anyone working to repeal this change? Yes. Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) has introduced the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act to try and get rid of this demand. At some point in 2011, the IRS will have public hearings on the new law and release regulations pertaining to it. Expect a loud, lively protest.(source)
As a small business owner, this has my blood boiling. It seems surreal the firm's clients will issue the firm a 1099 for services provided. Shame on Congress for legislating such a burden on the American taxpayers.
If you disapprove, contact your Congressman and Senator immediately in writing. Further, there is an election in November. Make your voice heard at the ballot box. It is time to bring sanity back to our legislative process and the IRS Code.
Please feel free to forward this article to family, friends or colleagues.
If you would like us to add them to our list, please reply with their address
and we will contact them and ask for their permission to be added.
European Debt and the U. S. Markets
EUROPEAN DEBT & THE U.S. MARKETS
Why the crisis has Wall Street stressed.
It would be wonderful if the U.S. financial markets could “decouple” themselves from what is going on in Greece, Portugal and Spain. Unfortunately, the debt situation in these countries is like a ripple in a pond. The question is, how strong will the ripple ultimately be and will its full force reach our markets?
The problem. Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland are all carrying enormous debts. On May 1, the New York Times put up a chart breaking this down: Greece owes $236 billion, which believe it or not is the smallest debt among these five countries. Portugal’s debt stands at $286 billion – and it owes roughly a third of that to Spain. Spain carries around $1.1 trillion in debt, and its economy is in horrible shape (20% unemployment). According to the Bank for International Settlements, it owes $220 billion to France and $238 billion to Germany. Ireland has $867 billion in debt, with about 40% of that owed to the U.K. and Germany. Italy owes $1.4 trillion, including $511 billion to France (almost 20% of France’s GDP).(source)
After the euro was launched, Greece had access to a whole bunch of cheap debt - and the country used it nonchalantly. In the years since the establishment of the euro, Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio has remained repeatedly above 100%.(source)
Europe’s biggest banks are heavily exposed to these debts, and so are some of ours: names like Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley. In fact, these five banks have $2.5 trillion of cross-border exposure in the crisis, with Citigroup the most exposed. So you have potential risk to these banks, the euro, and the European and world economy.(source)
The offer on the table. Fortunately, Greece has the chance to accept a $146.5 million bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union in exchange for austerity measures (less government spending and a lower standard of living). This would help Greece avoid default – that is, having to renegotiate its debt and possibly assume more. (As a sovereign nation, Greece cannot go bankrupt.) Many economists think Greece will go into a deep recession (or depression) which could last most of the decade.(source)(source)
Financial Reform Bill
THE FINANCIAL REFORM BILL
Main Street’s anger over Wall Street reaches the Senate floor.
Another reform bill is now making its way through the Senate – a bill that would reregulate the financial services industry with a few goals in mind:
1) Preventing failures of large banks and financial services firms, or at least insulating taxpayers and the economy in such an emergency
2) Creating a new financial watchdog agency to protect consumers
3) Tightening regulations on derivatives
4) Banning banks from proprietary trading (with the “Volcker Rule”)
5) Increasing transparency
To Build Wealth You Must Avoid These 3 Mistakes
To Build Wealth You Must Avoid These 3 Mistakes
Nearly half of the investors in a survey said they had never worked up a comprehensive financial plan with a professional - according to Opinion Research Corp, of Princeton, New Jersey which conducted the poll for MoneyTrack, a public television series. See if any of these 3 wealth building mistakes apply to you:
Could We See a Nationwide Sales Tax?
COULD WE SEE A NATIONWIDE SALES TAX?
Will a VAT become reality? How about Internet or energy taxes?
After studying and reflecting upon the mandates called for in the new Health Care Reform Bill, the $64 billion dollar question is how do the great American citizens pay for this? The only solution is to continue to raise income taxes or raise hidden taxes (think cell phone bill for instance). This is not only for national taxes, but also on the state, county and local level.
Despite the drumbeat for change during the November elections, it is a personal hunch both political parties will have to address this issue after the election. Thus, very little will be said during the fall campaigns, but you are now warned to watch closely after the November election. What do they have on their minds?
How do you pay down an $8 trillion debt? The Obama administration needs an answer, as the non-profit Congressional Budget Office says America’s debt could rise to $20 trillion by 2020.(source)
One possible answer has a very European ring to it: a VAT, or value-added tax.
What are the chances of Americans paying a national sales tax? And what about an Internet tax? Or an energy tax? Are they also possible?
A VAT of bubbling controversy. Last year, Obama administration economic adviser Paul Volcker mentioned the possibility of a value-added tax. The CBO is now studying the idea.(source)
India and the member states of the European Union have VATs: sales taxes imposed on producers, distributors and consumers as a product makes its way through the marketplace. VATs collect a great deal of state revenue while discouraging tax fraud. In France, the VAT is 20%; in Germany, 19%.(source)
