Tax Organization Tips & Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who participated in the  tax organizer kit giveaway in preparation for upcoming tax season!  If you missed it, all you had to do was share a tax tip to enter into the giveaway.

Tax Tips

As the chart below shows, one tip was by far the most popular.  People said it in a variety of ways but basically it boiled down to keeping all your tax records in one place.

Some people filed them digitally, some used a folder, a binder, a drawer, and others didn’t say exactly what they stored their tax records in.  But overall the suggestion was to gather your receipts and records as you got them through the year and keep them in a single place. Obviously the main benefits of this are that you don’t have to spend a lot of time hunting for documentation come tax season and you’re not worried about misplacing important tax forms.

A few people suggested to start preparing them early and there were two tips that I put in the “Other” category.  One was to make copies/backups of your tax information and tax returns so that you don’t lose them.  The other tip was to ask for advice on your taxes if you think you need it.

Tax Kit Winner

Overall, some good tips! To choose a winner, I gave each person a number based on the order they left their comment (those who are subscribed to the email newsletter also got a second number).  I used random.org to pick a number, whoever’s number it matched won the tax kit.  Carrie from CarefulCents had the lucky number this time.

Thanks to everyone for participating and thanks to Office Depot for sponsoring the giveaway!

 

---

Jean Chatzky’s Small Business Secrets to Success

You probably know Jean Chatzky as a personal finance author and journalist but when I interviewed her last week I was curious to hear a little about Jean Chatzky the business owner.

Over the last 20 years she’s built a successful business out of helping people figure out thier money problems.  I wanted to know more about how she handles her business finances, networks in the industry, and connects with her customers.

Jen Chatzky Interview Highlights

Below is a video of our interview and (since I was on a cell phone and kind of hard to hear at times) a transcript of what we talked about.  There was a bit of a delay in hearing her responses so please bear with my awkward pauses between questions. 

Something Jean suggested, that I agree with and practice, is setting up systems for your money so you can focus your attention on other things in life.  It seems even more important for small business owners who always seem to be short on time, so they can focus their attention on their business. 

One thing Jean’s focusing on right now are small business makeovers, that she’s offering in conjunction with Office Depot.  This interview was part of the small business makeover event so be sure to pay attention when she mentions it at the end of the interview.

Ben: You run a small business.

Jean:Yes I do

Ben: You obviously get big results but you run it yourself and we’re really curious to know what tools you use to keep your small business and finances in order and to keep yourself focused and organized.

Jean: My primary tool is actually my bank, quite frankly.  I mean I keep my finances fairly organized by banking at one institution.  I use their online application.  It keeps me very much in order.  And I feel like I know what I have coming in and what I have going out at all times.  And where it’s going – which is the most important thing.

Ben: So I guess then selecting the bank you are going to use then is an important part of that.

Jean: Well I think that it’s certainly an important part in terms of convenience.  I mean this has been a year where we are talking so much about bank fees and that sort of thing.  And you need a bank, and institution I think, or a credit union for that matter, that is convenient enough so that when you have to get cash or when you have to get to the branch to actually talk to somebody that it’s not so far out of the way that you feel like its some sort of  a hardship. 

But most of the major institution and a lot of the smaller one these days and many of the credit unions have put a lot of time and effort and money into their online applications.  And they are incorporating great personal finance management tools.  Some of which are coming from Yodlee. Some of which are coming from other sources like Mint. 

They’re a terrific resource and it’s just a matter finding the one that you are comfortable with and making a commitment to it, because the most important thing is that you do that tracking. That you know where your money is going, that if you have a question about whether you paid a bill and when you paid it, and whether the check  was actually cashed, you don’t have to go to 5 places.  You can just log on and know.

Ben: Sure that makes sense.  So it’s almost like something that you don’t have to worry too much about. You want your bank to be able to make it easy so you can spend your time and your focus on your business.

Jean: Exactly, exactly, and I feel that way about money in general.  I think you get your personal finances organized. You get your systems in place for managing money.  So that then you can focus on those things in life that matter more. You can focus on your kids, you can focus on the pursuits that make you happy.  Money is a tool that we use, whether it’s in business or in life to get us where we want to go.  And having enough money is of course very important but for me it’s not the ultimate outcome.

Ben: Yeah definitely, I agree with that.  Money is a tool get where we want to be. 

I’m curious in your business, one of your biggest assets I think is your network – your personal network and your business network. I’m curious how you kind of organize your network people, your trusted advisors, or the people you go to if you need help.

Jean: Well I’m definitely making more use of social media than ever before.  I’m on Twitter, I’m on Facebook (you can like my page), I have a website, JeanChatzky.com.  I keep in touch with people that way and they ask me their questions and they tell me their stories. 

I still, I have to say, I like a good old fashion phone call.  I like to hear the voice of the people I am talking to.  I like to sit down and network in person.  I think that’s really important.  Particularly, for people who have come of age during this technological Internet social media boom, I think it’s important to remember that sometimes you’ve gotta get out and you’ve gotta have lunch with somebody. 

You’ve gotta sit down, and share a meal, and share your stories. You have to really get to know each other, because when it comes time to hand somebody that next job, when it come time to pick up the phone and make a recommendation for some additional business, those are the people that you are going to remember.

Ben: Sure, and you’re good at building those kind of relationships.  I know you have a new show coming out where you get personal with people soon.  It’s called “Cash Call”, is that right?

Jean: I do it’s call Cash Call on RLTV.  We’re launching in late February.  Very, very, excited about that, because people will be able to Skype in, they’ll be able to send us their twitter questions and we’ll be able to answer them in real time.

Ben: Yeah it seems like these days, we’re able to get a lot more personal connections with more people, with some of the tools that are out there.

Jean: It’s interesting right?

Ben: Yeah you’re able to get more, involved with people’s lives and help them with their personal finances.

Jean: Yep, definitely.  I remember the first time (I’m looking at your blog Money Smart Life),  I spent many years at Smart Money magazine, and that was the first place that I really discovered I could use the Internet.  I mean back then we were using Prodigy, it was even before AOL, to reach out to real people and to tell their stories.  Too learn about their personal finances, and report using that technology… Been many, many years.

Ben: Yes and it also makes it possible for small business to kind of extend their reach, and to reach a lot of people. You’ve seen a lot of success with that.

Jean: Yeah well, and we’re hoping that we can improve the success for some additional people.  I’m working with the folks at Office Depot, and we’re doing these small business makeovers.  Three of them. 

We’re giving away three small business make overs, and you’ll win some office furniture, and some financial organization tools, and a new laptop, and a financial coaching session with me.  If you go to Office Depot’s facebook page you can find all the details on that, but essentially we want to hear in 100 words or less, why you need a make over.

Ben: Well I’m sure you’ll be getting a lot of responses.

Jean: I hope so.

Ben: Well great, thanks for taking the time to chat about money and small business with us today.

Jean: My pleasure.  Thanks for having me.

Ben: And definitely people should check out the small business make over and send in their 100 words.

Jean: or less!

Thanks to Jean for taking the time to do the interview.  As I mentioned earlier, I think creating a system for your money like she recommends is a good idea.  There’s another point she touched on that I think is important both for small business owners and for people building their career – face to face meetings.

I know when I make the effort to meet someone for lunch, attend an event, or go to a conference I always end up with great ideas, more connections, and deeper relationships.  It is easy to miss out on that face-to-face time because we’re busy and technology can create a virtual bubble around us but often times making the effort to meet in person can make a big difference.

If you have questions for Jean, you can submit them to her on Twitter, Facebook, or via email jean [at] jeanchatzky.com to see if she can answer them on her new show Cash Call.  The first episode is coming up so be sure to check out Cash Call.

---

Tax Return Organizer Kit Giveaway

Filing your tax return is easier if your records are organized. When you fill out your 1040, you have to dig up all of your files from the previous year so you can enter in your income and your deductions.  

Regardless of whether you go through tax software that prompts you for all the information, do your taxes by hand, or if you give all your information to your accountant – being organized still pays off at tax time.

Organizing Tax Documents

If you file your receipts and tax forms as you get them then it’s much easier to find them when it’s time to file your tax return.

There are multiple ways you can create a system to store your financial documents.  It can be as simple as using manila folders and labeling them, or there are systems you can use that come with pre-set categories of documents.  The one I’ve used is called HomeFile and it’s basically a set of laminated dividers with a top tab that tells you the category of document. On the front of each divider it lists all the potential documents that might fit into that category.

Whether you use a system or come up with your own, the main point is to figure out how you’re going to store your documents as they come in the mail throughout the course of the year.  

Tax Kit Giveaway

The people from Office Depot understand the importance of organization. That’s obviously what they specialize in, helping you keep your paperwork and your office organized and categorized.  They contacted me about sponsoring a tax kit giveaway on Money Smart Life and I agreed, who doesn’t want to be more organized right?

Here’s what’s in the tax kit:

• H&R Block At Home Basic Edition (Federal & State)
• Office Depot Reciept File Box
• Ativa Tax Calculator
• Ativa Flash Drive

If you want to get more organized this tax season you can enter this promotion by leaving a comment below with a good tax preparation tip or a story about how being organized/disorganized made it easier/more difficult when doing your taxes. You can also get an extra entry by subscribing to my email newsletter.

The tax kit giveaway will end on February 14, 2012, where a winner will be randomly selected.  Once the winner is announced, I’ll need to have your address so Office Depot can mail you the organizers and the software, giving you plenty of time to get your taxes filed for 2011 and to start your organization system for 2012.

Thanks to Office Depot for sponsoring the giveaway, leave your comments below to enter.

---

Tax Software Discounts

One of the ways you can save money this tax season is to get a discount on tax preparation software. If you like to do your taxes yourself — with some help from tax programs — you can find a number of discounts. Here are a few ways to get tax software discounts:

Brokerage or Bank Tax Discounts
Some banks and brokerages offer access to discounted tax software. One good example is Vanguard. The brokerage offers you access to a discounted version of TurboTax. If you are a “regular” client, you get access for 25% off. Flagship Services clients at Vanguard actually get free access to TurboTax. Fidelity also offers access to discounted tax software.

Banks and credit unions like FNBO Direct and USAA also offer discounted tax software. Check with your bank or credit union, or with your broker, to see if you can access discounted software through their site, or if there is a special promo code you can use when purchasing tax software.

Business Tax Promotions
You can also check with other businesses to find out if there is free or discounted tax software available. Some office supply stores offer it at a discount when you buy other items. In some cases, you might get it free when you make a large enough purchase. A local car dealership offers free tax prep software when you go in for a test drive. Keep your eyes and ears open to possible discounts and promotions. And, of course, look online for special sales and discounts at retailers like Amazon.com.

Customer Tax Discounts
If you are already a customer, you can usually go to the source and get updates. Some tax software programs offer discounted updates that let you use what you already have, but then update for your current tax return. Or if you’re already a customer, lets say you use H&R Block, you might be able to get a discount on their software, like H&R Block at Home. Jackson Hewitt also regular offers promos and discounts. Be sure to check with the TurboTax, TaxCut, TaxACT and other web sites to see if they are offering specials and discounts for repeat customers.

Tax Coupons and Deals
Naturally, you can look for tax software discounts with the help from coupon sites. There are any number of discounts and deals on sites like Dealio to find the latest coupons and discounts. You can also search online for “tax software discounts” or “tax software coupons” to find more deals. Just be careful; not all coupons and promos you find online are reliable.

FreeFile
Another option is to check out FreeFile from the IRS. If your adjusted gross income is less than $58,000 a year, you can actually go to IRS.gov and get access to tax software. You fill it out and e-file for free. The tax software comes from The Free File Alliance, LLC members. This includes a number of  tax software providers including:

• H&R Block
• TurboTax
• TaxSimple
• TaxACT
• TaxSlayer

Even if you make more than $58,000 a year, you can get help from the IRS by using the free fillable forms available. These come with directions, and can help you with fairly simple calculations. You may have to pay to file your taxes if you use a tax provider, though. Or you can simply print the finished forms and send them in.

---

Can’t Pay Taxes, It’ll Cost You

I think it’s safe to say that most of us don’t like filing income tax returns and writing big checks every April but you know what they say about dying and paying taxes – you can’t avoid them.

If you don’t pay what the IRS says you owe it’ll end up costing you a lot more than your initial tax bill. When you skip out on your taxes, there are some fairly harsh penalties.

Even if you know you can’t pay what you owe, you are better off filing a return and working with the IRS than just ignoring the problem and skipping taxes altogether.

Penalties and Interest
When you don’t pay your taxes, the penalties and interest start to add up. The IRS will levy penalties against you, and start keeping track of interest. The interest starts from the day after taxes are due.

So, if your quarterly taxes are due on June 15, the IRS will start charging you interest from June 16. The longer you wait to pay your taxes, the more the interest and other penalties add up. Coming up with the money to pay these penalties and interest is even more difficult than finding the money to pay the initial amount owed in the first place.

It is also important to remember that there is a similar process when you skip your state income taxes. Your state will also have its own penalties and interest charges. So, if you don’t pay your federal taxes or your state taxes by the tax return deadline, it could get very expensive really fast.

Failure to File a Tax Return
Many people believe that, if they can’t pay their taxes, there is no reason to file a return. This is not true at all. In fact, the penalty for failure to file is rather hefty. It’s more than some of the penalties for not paying taxes.

If you don’t file your tax return, you will be subject to an even bigger penalty. Ignoring your tax problem won’t make it go away. In fact, the longer you wait, the worse it gets.  You can access most of the best tax software for consumers online.  There are ways you might be able to find some tax software discounts and in some cases you can file your taxes online for free.

Working with the IRS
The IRS actually offers you the chance to pay your taxes using an installment payment plan. You don’t have to pay all at once if you can’t afford to. As long as you owe less than $25,000 in taxes, penalties and interest, you are usually eligible to apply for an installment plan.

You can even do this online at the IRS web site . As part of the application process, you tell the IRS how much you can pay each month, and the IRS reviews your situation and determines whether or not to accept your proposal. You should realize, though, that the installment plan is, in fact, a loan.

You will have to pay a one-time fee for origination, and you will pay interest. However, the interest that you pay is likely to be better than what you would pay if you used a credit card, or got a payday loan. And, by setting up an installment agreement, you can avoid paying some of the penalties.

If you are willing to show that you want to pay your tax obligation, and you make an effort, in many cases, you will be able to get some help in making the whole situation a little more affordable.

---

Your Financial Goals 2012

Did you ever notice that life often doesn’t go as planned?  When I first envisioned a financial goals system I had an idea of what the first topic would be but after asking you what your money goals were for 2012, it wasn’t at the top of the list.

Here are your financial goals for the coming year. 

Most of the goals are pretty self explanatory except for “Other”.  I grouped all the goals that only had a few votes into the “Other” category for the purpose of the summary. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re not as important as the goals that got thier own slices in the pie chart, just that more people shared the other goals.

As a reminder, here’s a snapshot of all the goals that you had to choose from.

Some people did write in their own goals, which was awesome, because obviously not everyone has the same money objectives in 2012.  I liked reading those because it gave me some insight into what other money topics you have on your mind.

Committing to Action

Thanks to everyone who shared their financial goals!  About 27% of everyone who looked at the survey answered it, so if you don’t see your goal sufficiently represented here, make sure to leave your vote next time.  I think one reason not as many people wanted to vote for their major financial goal was that I required you to include your email address when voting. That’s kind of what I expected, and in a way was hoping for.

I think it’s easy to check a box and click Submit for a goal but I think leaving your email address was more of a comittment towards that goal.  I want to work with people who are serious about hitting their goal and I think we have a good core group of people who responded who are ready to take some action.

Paying Off Your Credit Card Debt

Based on the results above, the first financial goal project will be on paying off credit card debt!  For those of you who responded, be on the lookout for an email from me in the next few days about how to get started.

If you didn’t get in on this round of the project, you can sign up below for my email newsletter for future updates.

Email:

---

Best Gym Membership Deals

Gym membership deals seem to be everywhere this time of the year. We’re one month into a new year – you promised yourself it was time to get healthy as part of your New Year’s resolutions, but have you?

It isn’t too late to start now. Gyms usually see a large influx of customers in January as we all promise to get healthy and fit every year. If you’ve waited until now you can still get a good deal, and the crowds will be slowly going down moving further into the year. You’ve missed part of the “resolution rush”.

Join the Right Gym
Before you can start looking at gym memberships you need to know what you are looking for in a gym. Do you want to run on inclined treadmills? Are you interested in a wide variety of classes (aerobics, spin, etc.)? Are there specific weight-based workouts you are looking to do?

All of these factors determine which gym is the right one for you. If you’re looking to take a wide range of classes and you pick a gym that doesn’t offer many classes, you’ve lost. And you’ve probably locked yourself in a long contract to boot!

Gym Membership Deals
Once you’ve picked out the type of gym you need you can start comparing offers from gyms in your area. Here’s a look at what some national gym chains are offering:

Bally Total Fitness: $27.99 per month, pay first and last month, plus a $29.00 card fee. No long term contract and access to 300+ fitness centers around the world. You can also use Bally coupon codes to save $5 off enrollment.  At one point you could get a Bally discount if you were a recent college graduate.  You can also get a Bally free trial to test out the gym with their 7 day guest pass.

Gold’s Gym: Promotions vary by gym. For example, One location in Murfeesboro, TN offered $14.99 per month memberships with no contract; a gym in New Bern, NC offered memberships at $29.99 per month with $21.54 in start up costs and a 2 year contract. That’s a huge difference!

Gold’s Gym also offers a 7 day VIP pass that gives you a golds gym membership trial to see if you like it.

Curves: Each location is a franchise so promotions are laregely determined by the owners. Many do have a Curves deal where new members get a week free as part of their “Wildly Effective Week” promotion.

24 Hour Fitness: $29.99 per month and you can use 24 hour fitness coupon codes for a $0 initiation fee. In addition to the 24 hour fitness free trial for 14 days, they also offer coupons for 30 or 90 day non-member offers.

Local Gym Deals

You won’t want to forget local gyms either. “The Rush!” is a somewhat regional chain in the southeast with locations in Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. Their New Year’s special is $1 per day ($30 per month) with no up front costs. My local YMCA offers a single adult membership for $49 with a $30 join fee, but the family membership is only $73. If you had multiple people using the membership your cost per person drops dramatically.

As you can see it really pays to shop around to find the best gym. Prices for no-contract memberships seem to range in the $28 to $30 per month range. Going on contract might save you money in the long run, but only if you use the gym heavily.

Most every gym out there offers a 7 day free membership pass to get you to try the gym out. The hope is you’ll get enough out of they gym during those seven days (when your motivation to work out is highest) that end up joining at the end of the week.

Compare Gym Costs and Perks
Once you’ve narrowed your list of prospective gyms down, it’s time to try them out. Use the 7 day pass, but commit to not committing until you’ve tried out every gym on your list.

After you’ve tried all the gyms it is time to get down to negotiating and comparing the costs with the perks. You’ll need that list of things you thought were important in a gym from earlier.

Did you use any of the classes like you thought you would? If so, the gym that costs $1 more per month but has three times as many classes as other gyms is probably worth it. If you didn’t, then a gym like that might not make the final cut.

Narrow the list down to two target gyms, then call them up and ask for the best deal. Better yet go in person and tell them you’ve got an offer from one of their competitors and want to see if they can beat that deal. You’ll get a lot of fluff about why they are better than the competitor, but remember you’ve already narrowed down to two gyms that you would be happy to join. It’s all about dollars and cents now.

Don’t Forget Corporate Discounts
Fitness centers have smartly teamed up to offer discounts to employees of corporations in their areas. Corporations are looking to cut back on their healthcare costs, and employees that regularly go to the gym are likely to be healthier than if they didn’t go to the gym. It’s a win-win for the employer and the gym.

For example, some corporate wellness programs will give you a 24 Hour Fitness discount code that you can enter into their website to save money when you sign up, as shown here.

These relationships can also be a win for the consumer, but only if you do your price shopping. The corporate discount at one gym may be more expensive than the rate you could negotiate to at a different gym. Either way it is a good place to start as you try to make your selection.

It’s not just corporations that get in on the gym discounts, some government organizations offer them as well.  For example, the New York Department of Education has a partnership that earns Golds Gym discounts for all of it’s employees.  And at one point Curves was offering all Indiana State Employees Curves membership discounts at certain locations. You’ll probably need some sort of proof of employment for similar deals, usually an employee ID or recent paycheck stub is enough.

Membership Clubs

Another way to find gym membership deals is by being part of a club or organization.  For example, if you have a Costco membership you can get a 24 Hour Fitness discount by buying a year or two at a time.

Or you can get a Golds gym deal if you’re a member of AARP – a discounted enrollment fee and discounts on monthly membership costs.

So, as you can see there are multiple ways you can save money on a gym membership.  Before you signup, check out the deals and see how much you can save.

---

How To Squash Your Nagging Money Worries

Do you ever go to bed at night worrying about money?  If you’re anything like my wife then some of those worries can keep you tossing and turning all night long. 

The simple answer to get rid of those worries is to tackle whatever concern is nagging at the back of your mind.  Unfortunately, life’s not always that simple.  Whether it’s work, family, school, or other responsibilities – life is busy and it’s tough to make time to get things done.

Running the Rat Race

I know before we had kids, I worked long hours at my job while going back to school for a Master’s degree.  Then we started a family and I launched this site and I haven’t slept a full 8 hours since : )

I’m sure you could share many similar stories, there’s never enough time in the day to get everything done that you’d like. The crazy thing is we work hard to earn a good salary and make a good life for ourselves and our family but often we don’t make time to take care for ourselves financially.

I could be wrong.  If you don’t have any outstanding financial to-dos then congrats to you and please let me know in the comments below.  But based on everything I’ve observed in my adult life, most of us have outstanding things we need to tackle when it comes to our finances.  Like what?

• Paying Off Debt
• Creating a Retirement Plan
• Building an Emergency Fund
• Creating an Estate Plan
• Buying Life Insurance
• Rolling Over a 401k
• Opening an IRA
• Finding a New Job
• Creating a Budget
• Tax Planning
• Rebalancing Investments
• Saving Up For a Big Expense

It’s a long list that I bet you could add something to.  My point isn’t to make you feel bad about your outstanding items; in fact, my goal is to help you get them done.  Let me explain with a quick story.

My Late Night Struggle

I don’t remember exactly which night it was but I had a long day at work, dealt with a sick kid when I got home, and then had a conference call until almost midnight.  As I sat down to work on my “master plan” for this site I felt frustrated and discouraged.  I was tired and spent, I didn’t have the time or energy to tackle this big task.  However, I knew I’d be equally exhausted the following night and the night after that.  So I told myself to suck it up and just get one thing done that evening.

Then I realized that you probably go through something similar.  In your case it’s probably not your website you’re worried about but some aspect of your finances.  You work a long day and have all sorts of responsibilities once you get home.  At the end of the night the last thing you feel like doing is working on your finances.

Why are these things so daunting?  Maybe you don’t know where to start.  You might not understand all the details.  You don’t want to make the “wrong” decision. There are lots of barriers, mental and tactical, that get in your way.

It Doesn’t Have to Be So Overwhelming

As I sat there thinking about how I should just get one thing done I realized that the same thing applies to your nagging financial worries.  You don’t have to be overwhelmed by these big tasks that you’re facing.  You can work on them a little bit regularly and get them taken care of in time.

You see my professional background is in software development and project management – I spend every day taking big problems and breaking them into little, manageable pieces.  So finally a little light bulb went off and I realized that I can use those same methods and apply them to your financial projects.

What I Built For You

If you read yesterday about how I failed you in 2011 then you’ll remember that this year I commited to creating something awesome. What I’ve built is a system that takes a financial project and breaks it down into tiny actionable pieces. It gives you the information and tools you need to complete each action and lets you track your progress as you complete them a little bit at a time. 

I’m excited about rolling it out because the beginning of the year is a time when we traditionally make our goals and start working towards things that we want to get done.  I’m in the middle of putting the finishing touches on this tool and I’m asking you to share your biggest financial goal for 2012.  Whichever one is the most popular is the goal that I’ll build into the first release of the new system. So far there’s one goal that’s beating all the others, we’ll see if it holds it’s top spot – Click hereto vote for your goal..

---

How I Failed You in 2011

You’re probably looking for tips and motivation on reaching your financial goals for 2012 but I think it’s important to reflect on the year that just ended and see what we can learn from it.

I promise there will be lots of tips and motivation in the coming weeks but first I have some confessions to make.  I did fail you in 2011.  Today I’ll talk about how I screwed up and what I’m doing to fix it.

1) Adopting a Pet Panda

My pet panda wasn’t exactly invited into my life but I have learned something from the experience.  It all started at the beginning of 2011, when the search engine Google made a change to the way they sent visitors to websites.

I won’t go into all the details here but Google nick-named the change “Panda” and what it meant for me was that the number of people coming to this site everyday went down significantly. It would be kind of like if my site was a mutual fund and Google was Morningstar and they downgraded my site to just 1 star.

To say it was discouraging would be an understatement; to say it was devastating would be a bit dramatic.  However, after having written on this site for years and pouring thousands of hours of my life into it, this development certainly set me back on multiple levels.

But why does this matter to you? One thing I learned from this whole experience was that you get the most value out of focused expertise, detailed information about specific financial topics.  Sure the change was just a search engine algorithm adjustment, but it was made to reflect the desire of people like you and other web searchers who want deep knowledge – rather than shallow information.

What I mean by that is, instead of covering a wide range of personal finance topics at a high level, you get more out of a narrower focus and more in depth coverage of those fewer topics.

Does that mean I’m only going to cover one or two topics?  No, I’ll still write about a variety of things I think will help you with your money.  However, it does mean that I’m going to put a lot more time into giving you solutions for specific money problems you face.

2) Giving You Nothing Awesome

This shortcoming really comes out of the first one that I just described but didn’t explicitly name – being general and shallow.  Let me explain.

I traveled to Chicago for the Financial Bloggers Conference last fall and met a lot of amazing people.  After spending time with my fellow bloggers, having a lot of good conversations, and listening to some interesting presentations I realized that every person has their own unique strengths and benefits they can offer when it comes to money matters.

Everyone has their own perspective and individual experiences with personal finance that other people can learn from.  The application of those specific skills and experience can create something very useful for you, something awesome that can really change the way you see and use money.

I also realized that my broad approach to the personal finance wasn’t doing my experience and skills justice and was holding me back from creating something awesome for you.

Unfortunately I wasn’t sure exactly what that awesome thing was, which leads me to my next failure.

3) Lacking Clarity

So there I was, a rebel without a cause.  I knew things needed to change but I didn’t know what I could do to make the biggest difference in your financial life.  So I started doing a lot of soul searching and research.

I’m sure you noticed that in the last few months of last year I only published one or two articles a week to the site.  I’ve had several people contact me to ask if everything was okay and to offer encouragement to keep up more regular content.  Thanks to Anastasia and everyone else that reached out with suggestions and concern.

However, despite how it may seem, I’ve actually been as busy as ever on the site.  It’s just that a lot of the work has gone into this research and preparation for the next phase of Money Smart Life.  Of course, this hasn’t done you much good yet, only reduced the amount of personal finance tips you’ve been getting.

I apologize for that…. but there is good news!

A Turning Point?

I did get a bit of a boost last November when I traveled to Minneapolis for a Mastermind Session with several other web entrepreneurs.  I gained more insight into where I was and where I wanted to be with Money Smart Life. 

I also have to thank Jeff Rose of Good Financial Cents.  We met at the conference in Chicago and have had a lot of follow up phone calls in the evenings after our kids were in bed to talk about what direction our sites should head in.

After all of this soul searching, deep thought, and time spent I finally had my “Eureka” moment! Unfortunately, I can’t talk about it now because I have to run out the door for work (which is kind of a clue for my big Ah-ha). Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you more about what I figured out and what’s coming next.

---

Claiming Investment Losses on Your Taxes

As the end of the year draws near we unfortunately have to start thinking about the taxes we’ll owe, our tax returns will be due before we know it.

If you’re not aware of the possible investment tax deductions one that you should think about is investment loss – the losses that result from your investments can offset some of your income.

Offsetting Capital Gains

First of all, your investment losses should be used to offset your capital gains. You pay capital gains when you see a net profit with your investments. However, if you have investment losses in other areas, you can use them, dollar for dollar, to offset your gains.

So, if you sell an investment for a $5,000 gain, and you sell another investment and end up with a $6,000 loss, your losses completely offset your gains. You owe no capital gains tax on your increase! When figuring out whether you have a gain or a loss overall, make sure that you start off by pairing off long-term gains with long-term losses, and short-term gains with short-term losses.

This is important, since short-term gains are taxed differently than long-term gains. If you have a net loss over all, though, it makes the situation a little easier. Double check your work with the IRS or with a knowledgeable tax professional before filing your tax return.

Offsetting Other Income

In the example above, there are losses “left over” from offsetting capital gains. If you still have losses after offsetting your capital gains, you can use those, up to $3,000 a year, to offset other income. So that left over $1,000 becomes a tax deduction from your “regular” income.

But what if your net losses are much bigger? In some cases, you might find that you have $4,000 left over after offsetting your capital gains. Well, you can still only use $3,000 of your left over losses to reduce your income. However, you can carry forward losses indefinitely.

So, you can carry the remaining $1,000 to the next tax year, and use that to reduce some of your tax liability. When deciding what to sell, think into the future. While it’s a benefit that you can carry forward losses, you don’t want so many losses that you are constantly carrying them forward with no end in sight. Make sure you carefully consider your situation, and decide on a strategy that works best for you.

Selling Your Losing Investments

As you prepare to sell your losing investments and harvest the tax loss, it is important to make sure that you do it right. First of all, understand that you can’t use losses on paper. The sell transaction has to actually be complete before the end of the year if you want it offset your income.

Also, if you want to gain a tax advantage from selling your losing investment, you have to avoid violating the wash sale rule. The IRS wash sale rule is simply that you can’t buy back a “substantially identical” investment within 30 days of selling your investment.

It’s not illegal to buy back an investment within that time period, but it will prevent you from claiming your losses as a tax deduction. So, if you decide to sell, make sure you don’t re-purchase the investment within 30 days. Your losing investments can be turned to your advantage with the right strategy. Take a look at the options, and consider that you might be able to benefit by reducing your taxable income by harvesting investment losses.

---

Page 45 of 190« First«...102030...4344454647...506070...»Last »