January 2011

What Do Stock Buybacks Mean For a Company and Its Share Price

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The financial news media does it all of the time, don’t they? They assume that the millions of retail or part time investors know all of the terms used on a daily basis. When IBM announced another stock buyback, the financial news channels reported it leaving investors unsure of what that will mean for their [...]

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Do I Need to File a Federal Income Tax Return? Maybe Not If You Meet These IRS Guidelines

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recommends that all adults file a tax return. Obviously, the IRS wants to have everyone pay their taxes but it is also an important way for the government to ensure that it pays out subsidies, stimulus payments and tax credits to the groups that they were intended for. However filing [...]

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Is it Okay For an Employer to Google or Facebook You?

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Most people have an online presence in today’s day and age. Whether it is passive (Google searches) or active (Facebook, Twitter) our online history is not that hard to get to for companies that have the right tools, resources and connections. But is this ethical or legal and should your employer or potential employer be [...]

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2012 and 2011 Locality Pay Rates – General Schedule (GS) Pay Table Adjustments

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[2012 Locality Pay Rates to Stay the Same as 2011] With no rise in the Federal General Schedule (GS) pay rates, may federal and state workers on the GS salary scale were hoping for some relief through locality pay changes. Unfortunately, the President declared that 2012 locality pay adjustments would remain at 2011 levels due [...]

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Taking Out a Loan vs. Venture Capital: The Pros & Cons of Both

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With the economy and unemployment the way it is today, many folks are thinking about starting or growing their own small business. But this requires money to pay for things like employee’s salaries (you may be the only employee), offices, supplies, marketing and more. Entrepreneurs typically get their money from a range of sources including [...]

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Obama’s 2012 Budget Proposal – What It May Include

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[Updated Feb 14 2011] President Obama has officially released his administration’ $3.7 trillion fiscal budget blueprint for 2012, which will result in a $1.65 trillion deficit (10.9% of GDP) in the current fiscal year – the largest dollar amount in U.S. history. With cutting the federal deficit a big focus, the proposed budget would trim [...]

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The Best Tax Software and Free Filing Options for E-filed Returns as Tax Filing Goes Primarily Online

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The IRS reported that nearly 70%, or  almost 99 million individuals, filed their federal income tax returns electronically during 2010, a 3 percent increase in the IRS e-file rate. This is up from about 30%, 10 years ago. At this rate by 2020, more than 95% of people will file electronic returns. Overall, the IRS [...]

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2011 Updates – Tax Brackets and Rates, Government (GS) and Military Pay Scales, 401K and IRA Limits and Stimulus Payments

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I have made a number of updates to popular topics on this site and in case you missed them, here is a quick recap with a link to the detailed information. 2011 Tax Rates and Brackets Following Bush-era Tax Cut Extensions With approval of a two-year extension to all the Bush-era tax cuts, the 2011 [...]

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Job Outlook and Prospects For 2011: The Usual Suspects and Some Surprises

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There is little more on the minds of college students or those considering getting a higher education degree than what occupation will offer decent career opportunities after graduation. Some look at income, and others look toward landing that first job and paycheck. Others look longer term to find a job with a defined career path [...]

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FOREX 101 – How Foreign Exchange Currency Market Trading Works

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You may know about stock markets but how about the foreign exchange market (FOREX)? If you’ve never heard of it, you should because it’s substantially larger than any single stock market. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), for example, handles $153 billion a day in volume, but the foreign exchange market has a daily volume [...]

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