January 2010

Filing Your Taxes For Free – Online IRS Free File Options From TurboTax, HR Block and CompleteTax

0 comments

When it comes to filing your taxes, there are a lot of free options. A number of leading tax software providers provide free e-filing options via the IRS’ free file program which provides free federal income tax preparation and electronic filing for eligible taxpayers. Free Tax Filing via Electronic Software is only really free for [...]

Read the full article →

New 2010 Stimulus Package Tax Breaks – Focused on Economic Aid For Middle Class Families via Increased Child Care, Student and Aged Care Credits

6 comments

[Updated following SOU speech] President Barack Obama has proposed a new round of stimulus spending in 2010, focused on middle class families struggling to pay bills and care for their families. The initiatives in the new stimulus package are a product of a middle class task force headed by Vice President Joe Biden, and will [...]

Read the full article →

Options for Term Life Insurance Death Benefit Payouts

5 comments

There are pages written about how to buy term life insurance, but very few devoted to death benefit claims and payouts. Sadly, this topic is so neglected, that awareness levels on this matter are very low. Term life insurance is the best kind of life insurance available today, and it would be a shame if [...]

Read the full article →

2012 Earned Income (EITC) and Child Tax Credit – Qualification and Income Limits

30 comments

[2012 update] The IRS has officially released 2012 tax details and here are the changes to the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits: – The 2012 Child Tax Credit (CTC) will remain at $3,000, thanks to provisions in the bush-era tax cuts extension. This extension will ensure an ongoing tax cut to 10.5 million lower [...]

Read the full article →

Quick and Practical Ways to Improve your Finances – Automatic Saving, Education, Refinancing to Tax Planning

3 comments

A new year is always a good time to reassess your financial situation and try and determine how you can improve your personal finances. Based on my experiences and observations, here are some practical ways to implement five simple and relatively cheap strategies to master your finances. All it requires is a little discipline and [...]

Read the full article →

Health Care Bill Hits Married Couples Harder

0 comments

Did a double take when I read an article in the WSJ that said under the new health care reform bill in Congress, marriage (relative to unmarried couples) will cost you in terms of health care premiums. And quite significantly apparently. The built-in “marriage penalty” in both House and Senate health care bills has received [...]

Read the full article →

Tax Tips and Choosing an IRS Regulated Tax Return Preparer Subject to New Oversight, Testing and Continuing Education Requirements

1 comment

With tax season well and truly upon us now a decision many have to make is to do their taxes via ever improving accounting software (like Turbo Tax) or go with a professional tax prepare for more complex returns. More than 80% of taxpayers use a paid tax preparer or tax software to complete their [...]

Read the full article →

How US and Global Stock Markets Performed in 2009 with an Outlook and Forecast for 2010

2 comments

It was a year in which governments and central banks around the world took extraordinary measures to get their economies growing. While the bailouts and economic stimulus boosts that many countries employed may have had mixed results for it’s citizens, the boost to stock markets was definitely real. The U.S. stock market ended 2009 with [...]

Read the full article →