With today’s shrinking home values, rising adjustable mortgage rates, and tighter loan standards, many people are turning to their 401(k) plans as sources of needed cash. But early withdrawals can exact a
heavy price, and even borrowing from a 401(k) can have adverse consequences.
Due to the tax effect, withdrawing funds from a qualified retirement plan is [...]
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Filed under: Finance
If you contribute to an IRA, the contributions may be fully or partially deductible. Although deductions are generally not available to high-earning taxpayers if either spouse participates in an employer’s retirement plan, contributions may still grow on a tax-deferred basis until withdrawn.
The contribution limit for the 2008 tax year increased from $4,000 to $5,000. Plus, [...]
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Filed under: Finance, Financial Planning, Personal Finance, Taxes
Capital gains and dividends
The mazimum tax rate on net long-term gains and qualified dividends for taxpayers normally in the 10% or 15% regualr income tax brackets is reduced from 5% to 0% for 2008. Under current law the 0% rate will remain in effect through 2010. This may be a good year to have your [...]
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Filed under: Finance
We all know that a college education is important, but did you know that, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, people with a bachelor’s degree earn nearly twice as much on average than those with only a high school diploma?
The challenge is that the cost of a college education continues to rise considerably faster than [...]
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Whenever I meet clients, I can safely assume that they are confused between Traditional and Roth IRA. Actually, most of the times it’s safe to assume that they wouldn’t know the difference between the two. Generally speaking, a Traditional IRA is where before-tax dollars are contributed (which, at time of withdrawal, are subjected to tax) [...]
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Filed under: Finance, Financial Planning, Investing, Personal Finance, Taxes, Understanding Finances
Felix Salmon is a blogger/writer with the Conde Nast Portfolio magazine. He wrote a blog entry yesterday about cap weighted funds which I think is a must read for anyone confused between cap weighted funds and fundamentally weighted funds. He quotes Joe Nocera “fundamentally weighted funds ain’t index funds, and they shouldn’t be viewed as [...]
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Filed under: Finance, Funds, Products & Websites
In order to reduce the tax burden that small businesses may suffer from, it is vital for the owners to be aware of the latest reforms which can help them avail tax reliefs. Several aspects of the tax legislation help provide relief to small businesses. The categories which include reduction and aid include returns on [...]
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Filed under: Business & Economics, Finance, Funds, Investing, Taxes
Postponing Social Security until age 70 makes a great deal of sense for most healthy, married Americans that can do without the income. Of course, there are numerous exceptions and before postponing your benefits you should seek professional guidance. Obviously most haven’t because about two-thirds of current Social Security recipients started taking benefits before their [...]
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Filed under: Finance, Financial Planning, Investing
For people operating their own business, one of the biggest time consuming and frustrating process is finding the right financing partner for their business loans. Often, this is a complex and prolonged procedure due to extensive documentation and poor sources of information. This is where services like Ezunsecured kick in. With specialized services to find [...]
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Filed under: Business & Economics, Debt Consolidation, Finance, Financial Planning, Funds, Products & Websites
One of the blogs I frequently visit is BlownMortgage which has been around for quite a while. There was quite an interesting post on it a few days back. Even though the original post from the archives is from 2007, yet I thought I’ll link it over here as it’s quite a well intended piece.
From [...]
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Filed under: Finance, Mortgage, Products & Websites
Get your free credit report from Evaluate options before breaking your 401(k) nest egg Mark Your Calendar IRA Contributions Tax Saving Options in 2008 rules: Part II Tax Saving Options in 2008 rules: Part I Saving for your child’s college education Which Path To Tread – Traditional Or Roth? IRS – Do We Know All About It? Joint Mortgages – Why To Opt For Them How Much Risk Is Too Much Risk? Cap Weighted Funds Looking For A Credit Repair Solution? Latest Reforms Help Small Businesses Avail Tax Relief Lawsuit Loans